gratitude

“Give thanks in all circumstances.” (1 Thessalonians 5:18)

Wait, what? In all circumstances? That can’t really be what we are supposed to do. All circumstances? Oh, wait. We really are supposed to give thanks in all circumstances? Oh, my my my my my. Okay, how? You mean we are just told to do this and not told anything specific about how to do it? A huge lot of help that is. All right, with no specifics, here is how I’ve been trying to live this out on my own.

On May 8, I was told three of the most frightening words anyone can hear: “You have cancer.” In the last two months I’ve had two significant surgeries, one for thyroid cancer and one hip replacement. There has been pain, risk, apprehension, scarring and the knowledge that I must wait another three weeks before I know if I am in the clear regarding the cancer. That’s a lot of circumstances.

I can give thanks for many things, including first-rate medical care, friends who visited me in the hospital, and my two sister-cousins who flew to Chicago from the East Coast to stay with me for days to make sure I was cared for. Not everyone has those things, though, so for what can we all give thanks in a world that too often seems cruelly chaotic?

We give thanks that God is with us in all circumstances because God will never leave us or forsake us. Thank you, God, for your unfailing love, renewed every morning. Thank you, God, for loving us as your children, valuing us so much that you gave Jesus to die for us. Thank you, God, for promising that nothing, even illness, injury or abuse, can separate us from your love in Christ Jesus.

Give thanks in all circumstances. I often think that the more desperately we need God, the more God lets us feel His presence. For that, the more thankful we can be.