From Grumble to Thankfulness in 10 Minutes Or Less

By Michelle Lim –

Did you ever wake up on the wrong side of the chaos scale? You know, those days when everything explodes and your world is a debris field of catastrophe?

As a mom of four I find myself waking up on the wrong side of the chaos scale way too often. We miss the bus, forget lunches, have a pet on the loose, a volcanic eruption of laundry, a landslide of dishes in the sink and a cranky disposition or two. All before nine in the morning.

On one such brilliant morning a verse in my devotions challenged me to give thanks even though my day made chaos look tame.

In First Thessalonians 5:18 Paul says, “Give thanks in all circumstances for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (NIV)

My first response to that verse was “Do I have to?” Then I realized how much that sounded like one of my kids when they are asked to do a chore. I needed to be more grown up than that.

Naturally my next thought led me to the whole argument that God would understand my grumbling. After all, I’d started the day with a science experiment in my breakfast cereal.

I read the verse again. All circumstances? Gulp.

Paul wrote this to the new believers in Thessalonica who needed direction for living a godly life. Reality check. This book addressed the church who suffered persecution, imprisonment, and even death for their faith.

If it was God’s will for them to give thanks when they were beaten for their faith, I should be able to handle a beetle in my Cheerios.

PRAYER: Lord, thank You for all You have given me, the freedom to worship You with abandon, the blessing of my family, the strength to face each day’s challenges. Help me to be thankful in all circumstances, even when things aren’t going the way I’d planned. You are still amazing and worthy of my praise.

“Give thanks in all circumstances for this is God’s will for you, in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:18 NIV).