One of my favorite hymns is ‘Count Your Blessings’ – The chorus
reads ‘Count your blessings name them one by one and it will surprise you what
the Lord has done’, you remember? Yes, if you count your blessings you sure
will find a thousand reasons to be thankful and that is easy. The hard part
though is giving thanks during hard times, when you count your losses.
The Apostle Paul admonishes us to ‘Give thanks in everything:
for this is the will of God – 1 Thessalonians 5:18’. The Father’s will is that
we give thanks in EVERY thing. Not some things, not when it’s rosy, not just in
life’s summer season but also in life’s winter season when all that can go
wrong has gone wrong…give thanks because that is when we fully and truly exercise our
faith in God. Thanking God in the face of pain is hard.
I recall going through one of the toughest times of my life.
I had lost my job and didn’t get another for almost 2 years, for someone
who got a job straight after graduation and another immediately after my youth
service year it was tough. I had to depend on my folks to take care of my basic
needs and when I thought it couldn’t get worse, my Mum got involved in an
automobile accident and suffered a fractured leg – this left her bedridden for
almost a year. Then I had to break up a relationship that was almost 4 years
old just a few months to the wedding, life was at its lowest for me and the
pain I felt is better imagined than experienced. All I had was my family and my
faith in God. In that time I learnt
trust and total dependence on God.
My experience may be nothing compared to what you have
suffered but part of the reality of living is that we will all have our fair
share of pain and then we ought to remember the words of King David in Psalms
27:3b ‘though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident’.
You lose nothing in giving thanks. Instead you gain renewed hope,
strengthened faith, optimism, peace of mind and a merry heart which does good
like medicine. Whatever it is you are going through, a divorce, the loss of
a loved one or a job, a troubled relationship or marriage, sickness, financial
loss, depression, give thanks.
When life makes no sense and you can’t find a shoulder to lean on or a hand to hold, when all you can count are losses, demonstrate your love for God and just praise him because in all things God works for the good of them that love him.
When life makes no sense and you can’t find a shoulder to lean on or a hand to hold, when all you can count are losses, demonstrate your love for God and just praise him because in all things God works for the good of them that love him.
So dear, whether your life is filled with clutter or abundance praise him for the life you have which is worth more than money can pay for…Psalms 150:6 ‘let every thing that hath breath praise the
Lord’!
To answer your question,yes!you should give thanks when you count your losses.The scripture you quoted didn't say to give thanks for all things but "in" all things.This means all things aren't from God,but when you find yourself in such a situation,give thanks in it.Why?because thanks is a demonstration of faith.When you thank him for that which seemingly isn't "good" you have invited him into the situation and ignored the enemy.Now let me ask,how do we consider what we term "loss".Did Job loose after his travail or he gained,was Jesus defeated when he was nailed to the cross and died?My point is what we call loss might be the stepping stone for the next and higher level of your life.What will make it a loss or gain is determined by whether we sorrow or we are thankful.The writer said her faith grew in the midst of her challenges,now was that a loss?
ReplyDelete'What we call loss might be the stepping stone for the next and higher level of your life.What will make it a loss or gain is determined by whether we sorrow or we are thankful'. This here sums it up, thank you Dele.
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