Three Reasons to Be Thankful
“give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
1 Thessalonians 5:18
I often see “Thankfulness Campaigns” on social media; the idea being that you should list a reason or several reasons over a period of time, for being thankful.
Please don’t get me wrong, I’m not anti this idea. In fact I think it’s a great one! Thanksgiving is a Biblical prescription for daily living. But there’s a very subtle shift in focus in some of these social media threads, that if we aren’t careful, can make our thankfulness:
A) conditional: depending on my circumstances.
B) all about me – “I’ll be thankful to God depending on what I perceive Him to have done for me.”
Neither of these are places we want to find ourselves!

Psalm 100:4 tells us: “Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name!”
This is the truth: Our God is worthy of our thanks and praise!
However I know that we all have seasons in life when we allow our feelings to get in the way. You might be experiencing a time in your life right now, where things feel really tough, dry and hard. Sometimes when we’re in a prolonged Winter period we get to a place where we can start to feel “what do I have to be thankful for right now, when nothing’s going right for me?”
The truth is, these hard seasons strengthen and refine our faith, and shape us to be more like like Jesus.

It’s easy to practice thankfulness when life’s going well. To express real thankfulness in hard times is faith-building and displays true character.

Psalm 100:4 is often quoted, but you know, it doesn’t stop at telling us to enter His gates with thanksgiving,  it goes on in the next verse to list some great reasons for thankfulness, and guess what? None of these actually have anything to do with us or our circumstances! There’s nothing there that looks remotely like “thank you God for my  job/house/income/spouse/health. (Although it is good to be thankful for these things!)

Our thankfulness is about who God is. His character, His Nature. It has little or nothing to do with our circumstances

Have a look: For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations. Psalm 100:5

When we remember who He is – how Big our God is, in comparison to whatever situation or circumstances we might find ourselves in, it changes our entire perspective.

We shift and change constantly; our hearts are fickle. But God is constant and unchanging; Faithful from one generation to the next.

If you’re in a Winter Season right now, finding it difficult to find a place of thankfulness, these three rich truths about our wonderful and amazing, matchless God listed in Psalm 100:5 – are the perfect starting point for giving thanks!  As you read through this verse slowly, thinking on the truths contained in the words, let them catch hold of your heart and mind and let thankfulness start to rise up in you again. “Thank you Lord, that you are good. That your steadfast love endures forever and that your faithfulness towards me is unending.”

As a “bonus” here are some more scriptures to back up these three great truths:

He is Good!
Psalm 34:8 “Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!”
Psalm 31:19
“Oh, how abundant is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you and worked for those who take refuge in you,”
Psalm 145:9
“The Lord is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made.”
Psalm 23:6
“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,”

His Love Endures Forever!
Nothing can or will ever change the fact that God loves you.
Psalm 107:1 Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!
Psalm 136 is a declaration of thanksgiving to God “for he is good, his steadfast love endures forever”
Lamentations 3:22-23 “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”

He is faithful!
2 Timothy 2:13 “if we are faithless, he remains faithful “
Hebrews 10:23 “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.”
1 Thessalonians 5:24 “He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.”
Deuteronomy 32:4 “The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is he.

This is our God! It’s difficult to read these truths in His Word and not feel a stirring on the inside! He is so faithful, so good, His love endures, and bears us through the hardest Winter.
Jill 💜