My sister, Charity, and I have a tradition of singing a song for special music at church during Thanksgiving if we have the opportunity. It’s a well-known song called “Give Thanks.” The words go like this: “Give thanks with a grateful heart / Give thanks to the Holy One / Give thanks because He’s given Jesus Christ, His Son / And now let the weak say, ‘I am strong’ / Let the poor say, ‘I am rich / Because of what the Lord has done for us.’” Unfortunately we aren’t going to be able to sing it together this year, but I was thinking about the words and discovered something. It’s easy to look around at our lives and decide we’re not thankful for circumstances that we’re going through. But that’s not the stuff that really matters. Give thanks because God has given Jesus and offered us eternal life! That’s what we should be thankful for.

The Apostle Paul seems to echo the words of that song when he tells the Thessalonians to “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18). We can only give thanks in everything if we understand that circumstances and events happening around us are temporary. Jesus said that we would have trouble in the world but to rejoice, because He has overcome the world! No matter what you’re going through, give thanks! This is the will of God for you.