Dave’s Monday Blast – November 28, 2022
Good Morning Men of Intention,
How was the Apostle Paul able to say in 1 Thessalonians 5:18 that we are to respond to difficult circumstances by giving thanks? He summarized for us in 2 Corinthians 11:23 – 27 that his life circumstances were filled with great hardship, yet he still had a heart of gratitude and by his own testimony had discovered how to be content.
Pastor Charles Stanley says that Paul used the following strategies to open the door of gratitude:
1. The first Key is as a believer in Christ, you are in God’s hands. When describing His people, Jesus told His disciples, “My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand” (John 10:29).
Furthermore, the One who holds you is omnipotent: “The Lord has established His throne in the heavens, and His sovereignty rules over all” (Psalm 103:19). There is no one greater than your Protector.
2. The second Key is God’s assurance that He works everything for our good. “We know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28).
Often He gives blessings, pleasures, and abundance, and we recognize them as coming from the Lord. But He also allows difficulties and suffering. Yet even from these things He’ll bring positive effects, frequently in the form of our spiritual growth and learning.
God is also able to take our failures and turn them for our good. When we disobey and sin against Him, His chastening hand comes upon us with painful consequences to bring us to repentance.
3. The third Key is an understanding of God’s specific purpose. “It’s easier to give thanks when we know the purpose we are “called according to” (Romans 8:28). That purpose is found in the very next verse: “to become conformed to the image of His son” (v. 29).
God is working through your circumstances to make you like Jesus. It’s a process that begins at salvation and will be completed at the resurrection, when the Lord “will transform the body of our lowly condition into conformity with His glorious body” (Philippians 3:21). In eternity we’ll see how God worked everything together for our good. All pain and hardship will be gone, and we’ll experience fullness of joy and pleasures forever in our Savior’s presence (Psalm 16:11).
That’s good isn’t it! Believing these three truths will make your trust unshakeable, bring you great comfort, keep you from bitterness, and teach you to be content in everything (Philippians 4:11 – 13).
