In 1 Thessalonians 5:18, the Apostle Paul writes, “In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”
In light of the challenges associated with the coronavirus pandemic, there are many people who are wondering, “How can one be thankful in these difficult times?” While there are numerous reasons to be thankful, I want to highlight three very important reasons why we should still be thankful to God.
We should be thankful to God because God has been good to us! No matter what we have been through or are going through, God has still been good to us. The goodness of God is evidenced by the fact that God always provides what we need (Philippians 4:19). Yes, we do struggle sometimes, but God always comes through for us.
God’s goodness can also be seen in the fact that He protects us from dangers seen and unseen. God’s goodness has also been manifested in our lives through His efforts to put us in the right position at the right time.
God’s grace is yet another reason we can all thank God today. Whether we will admit it or not, God’s grace (unmerited/unearned favor) has made the difference in our life. In the book of Genesis, as God prepared to let it rain for 40 days and 40 nights, the Bible records that Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord (Genesis 6:8). Because of the grace God extended to Noah, Noah was able to save himself, his wife, his three sons, and his daughters-in-law.
As we consider what God’s grace enabled Noah to do for himself and his family, we must realize that we, too, have benefitted from the grace of God. It is because of God’s grace that we have made it this far. So, no matter what we might be dealing with today, we should be thankful to God because He has willingly bestowed and continues to bestow his grace on us.
The final and most important reason we should thank God today is because of the gift He has given us in the person of His son Jesus Christ. The Bible records in Romans 6:23 that “the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
The gift of God is eternal life, but one has to understand how that gift must be accessed. We access the gift by accepting Jesus as our savior. God has provided a way for us to live in eternity with Him. He did not have to do it. But because he loves us, he chose to do it.
No matter how difficult or challenging our lives might be on this side of heaven, when we accept Jesus as our savior, nothing can prevent us from inheriting the gift that God has freely given to each of us.
No matter how difficult our circumstances may be, we still have reasons to thank God because God has been good to us, God has extended his grace to us, and God has provided a gift through His son Jesus Christ that no one can take from us.
Rev. Dr. Deonia Simmons is the senior pastor at Mount Calvary Missionary Baptist Church on Hilton Head Island and author of “The Winning Way: Gaining Victory Over Anxiety and Depression.” mountcalvarymbc.com
