On Practicing Thankfulness

I have been so convicted lately! 

The other day I was scrolling through facebook and I saw a quick post my mom had made. It said, “What if we were just thankful for everything?” (1 Thess. 5:18). Or as the actual verse says, “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” It amazingly baffled me. Surely there are some things in life that are just not worth giving thanks for (my actual thought process). 

Then just yesterday, I was reading a short biography on Corrie Ten Boom (Eric Metaxas, 7 Women and the Secret of Their Greatness). Corrie and her sister Betsie were in a concentration camp together during World War 2 (for helping smuggle/house Jews). During their time there, Corrie’s sister encourages her to be thankful for even the fleas. And Corrie’s first reaction is what mine would have surely been, “Why in the world could there be anything remotely good about fleas?!” But she reluctantly gave in and her and Betsie gave thanks to God for the infestation of fleas in their sleeping quarters. Mind baffling! 

I considered all the minor hiccups I face throughout the day and how I handle them. Not often with thanksgiving, usually the complete opposite. Grumbling is my first reaction. But I want desperately for that to change. I am not only inspired by Corrie and Betsie’s amazing example, but I am spurred on by this verse in 1 Thess., which proclaims that God’s very will for us is to be thankful in every circumstance. I desire to follow His will for my life and He is so worthy of all my praise, in every situation that life tosses my way. 

I am reminded of the purpose for everything that touches my daily life, just like Corrie found out that the fleas were indeed a reason to give thanks for. They played a huge role in keeping the guards away, so that the prisoners could share prayer/worship meetings every night in their sleeping quarters, while undisturbed. So today, I want to practice thankfulness, counting not only the obvious blessings in my life, but the blessings which for the time being are disguised.