Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you (1 Thessalonians 5:18).

This statement leaps off the page at the end of Paul’s letter. It’s so surprising because God’s will is such a mystery in our lives. We wonder what is the best course of action, what should we give our lives to, and too often we approach God with these questions as if he were speaking in riddles. But God wants us to know his will and Paul just tells us plainly that His will for us is to give thanks in everything. What?

Thankfulness is about receiving, not about giving; not like a consumer, but as one given a gift. And to be thankful in all circumstances means that we are to receive every circumstance of life as if from our heavenly Father.He is superintending our life. He is directing it. He is in charge of the good and the bad things that happen to us. He is working everything for good, although we cannot fathom how he would do that.

Thankfulness isn’t a command after things go well, but constant reminder that God is running our life and circumstances for our good.

But we disobey this command with regularity. Why? Because we want to be God’s hired workers, not children at Christmas time. We want a certain return for time invested. But God isn’t looking for hired workers. He is looking for people whose lives who have acknowledged that all of life is a gift and every circumstance will work out for good, because it is all coming from God.

And imagine the life that RECEIVES everything with thankfulness. That person would be incredibly secure in this world, not anxiously working, hoping that life will work out. They will find every grace in even the hardest circumstance, knowing that thankfulness IS the resource to a life that overcomes.