Giving God thanks

1 Thessalonians 5:18  In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

As I, Gail, sit here writing this, it is freezing outside. It has been snowing for hours, sleet is now belting the sides of our little, old, cozy (but not very well insulated) house trailer, and we have very little heat. Our heat pump is frozen- the coils are full of ice- so we cannot turn it on until the weather warms up and it defrosts. (We have a repairman who could fix it for us, but he cannot get here because the roads are impassable in the midst of this terrible snow storm.)

Paul tells us in the above scripture that it is God’s Will for us to give Him thanks in everything. Please notice that he does not state FOR everything, but rather IN everything. This does not mean that we have to thank God for lots of snow, but rather that we need to look within this situation and find something to thank Him for.

The heat pump has been off for two days now and we are freezing. We have a small space heater, but it doesn’t do much good in keeping us warm.

So what can we possibly give thanks to God for?

My husband and I sat down together and thought about that very question, and we soon realized that the answer is really quite simple.

LOTS!!!!!!

Thank-you, Jesus- first and foremost- for salvation; for coming to die on the cross so that our sins can be forgiven and we can spend eternity with You. That is the only thing in life that really matters- and it is free! Salvation cannot be bought with any amount of money.

Thank-you for electricity; for running water; for food to eat; for warm clothing to wear; for a bed to sleep in; for good health; and especially for providing for our needs so that we don’t have to drive anywhere during this horrible snow storm.

Thank-you for blessing us with each other; for our mothers; for our children; for the couple who donate Internet and house phone to our little ministry; for the precious person who faithfully sends us a monthly monetary donation; for the one who donates this website to us; for the one who keeps our computers up and running; for our wonderful mechanic; for our plumber; and for our heating and air conditioning repairman!

Thank-you for a mailman who delivers our mail- even in bad weather; for a great hairdresser; for a landlady who is kind-hearted and caring; and for good friends.

WOW!! By the time my husband and I were done thanking God for all of our blessings, we realized that a little inconvenience like having almost no heat for a few days was just not that big of a deal.

Thank-you, Jesus, for ALL of our blessings. We love YOU!!!!