"Thank God" No Matter What!

Thank God...No matter what

Illus.

The day before Thanksgiving an elderly man in Phoenix called his son in New York and said to him, "I hate to ruin your day, but I have to tell you that your mother and I are divorcing; 45 years of misery is enough.

We can't take it any longer…We’re sick of each other and it's over we're going to quits and so you call your sister in Chicago and tell her...there will be no Thanksgiving this year."

Frantic, the son called his sister, who exploded on the phone. "Not on my watch are they getting divorced," she shouted, "I’ll take care of This." So She called Phoenix immediately, and said to her father.

"You are NOT getting divorced...you can't I wont allow it!

Don’t do a single thing until I get there. I’m calling my brother back, and we’ll both be there tomorrow on the first flight out...

Until then, don’t do a thing, DO YOU HEAR ME?"

The man hung up his phone and turned to his wife. "Okay, honey...you were right it worked. The kids are coming for Thanksgiving, paying for their own flights and they will be here in time for lunch"

1st Thess. 5:16-18 MSG

Be cheerful no matter what; pray all the time; thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live.

You know thanksgiving has come and gone and Christmas is only weeks away..

and this is when many people take survey of their lives and their circumstances

And focus on the goodness of God and they stop and take time to make note of how much they have to be thankful for.

It has been said… Even atheists are thankful this time of year, they just aren't sure to whom to be thankful too?

Can you imagine if someone couldn't find something to be thankful for… What a miserable existence that would be

Everybody has something that they can be thankful for..

if not you better check your pulse

Illus. I'm thankful for

....the taxes I pay

....because it means I have a job

....the clothes that fit a little too snug

....because it means I have more than enough to eat

....a lawn that needs mowing and

....gutters that need cleaned

....because it means I have a home.

....the spot I find at the far end of the parking lot

....because it means I am capable of walking.

....my huge heating bill

....because it means I am warm.

Yes… If you look hard enough everyone has something to

be thankful for this time of year

But what about the rest of the time?

Isn’t what God is doing, for all of us the rest of the year...

worthy of our thankfulness and worthy of continuous praise?

And the answer is "YES" a million times Yes!

Are you, or should I say..are we giving thanks every day..in every circumstance?

If were not we should be!

Sometimes its difficult to do as it says in Luke 10:27 to love the Lord with all your heart, mind, body and strength...and to love your neighbor

as well as you do yourself

But the word clearly says to;

Be cheerful no matter what; pray all the time; thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live.

Be cheerful… Never stop praying… And thank God no matter what happens in every situation

This might seem hard to do at times, especially when you are going through something trying or difficult.

You know what I’m talking about, one of those Why periods..

you know when you question why..

Why is this happening to me?

Why do I always have the hard road?

Why can't I get the easy breaks?

but it seems like there’s no answer, Or at least...

not the answer your looking for, in the time frame you want it in.

But notice today’s verse doesn’t say...if everything goes just the way you want

and you get everything you think you need to be grateful…

It just says to thank God in every situation no matter what happens

Cause face it, there’s a lot of stuff in life that happens to all of us..

that you wouldn’t wish on anyone

But what God is saying here, and he wants you to realize that it's all temporary and if you really want to live the way he has planned for you to live...

you need to trust him and take Him at His word..

Don’t just focus on what’s wrong in your life; try focusing on whats right with your life for a change, try focusing on what God wants to do in your life.

What your wanting to take place, may not look like its happening, but that doesn’t mean Gods not working behind the scenes,