Your Daily Devotional for July 19, 2007

 

July 19,  2007

 

 

Thankful at All Times

by Dr. Paul Chappell

 

 

"Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice. Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."

 

Philippians 4:4-7

 

 

The great missionary to China, Hudson Taylor, once wrote in his journal, "Our heavenly Father is a very experienced One. He knows very well that His children wake up with a good appetite every morning...He sustained three million Israelites in the wilderness for forty years. We do not expect He will send three million missionaries to China; but if He did, He would have ample means to sustain them all...Depend on it, God's work done in God's way will never lack God's supply."

 

Yesterday we saw that being thankful affects those around us. When we express our thankfulness to God and to others, those around us will see our spirit and become thankful as well. But not only will being thankful affect others, but it will affect us. It will help us focus on God during difficult times. Today, we will see that we should be thankful in all situations.

 

First, we should be thankful when God blesses our lives. That would seem to be obvious, but many times we may not recognize God's blessings! Sometimes we can think that we earned something or that we attained it on our own, but nothing we have is of our own doing—it's all of God! We must recognize that when anything good comes into our lives, it is God's blessings. We must thank Him when He blesses our lives.

 

Second, we must be thankful when requesting help. Our verses today show us that God desires for us to take our requests before Him. While we may often ask God for help, we also see that He desires for us to thank Him as well! We should be so thankful that even when we are bringing a need before Him, we would be thinking of the needs He has already met in our lives! We should be thankful even while asking God to provide for a need.

 

As we already saw, Hudson Taylor recognized that rather than worry about his needs, he should take them before God with thanksgiving. God knows just what we need to accomplish His will, and He has already prepared a plan to provide for us! He desires that we come before Him and not only ask Him, but recognize His provisions in our lives already and thank Him for them!

 

Last, we must be thankful while enduring trials. The book of Philippians is centered on themes of joy and thanks, yet it was written while Paul was in jail. Even while he was enduring a difficult time, Paul took time to thank God for His blessings and sought to encourage others. Even in trials, we should thank God for His goodness to us.

 

No matter what situation we are in, God desires that we would thank Him. Have you thanked God today for what He has done for you? It doesn't matter who we are or what we are going through, God desires that we would thank Him. Spend time alone with God right now. Thank Him for all that He has done in your life. As we focus on God's goodness to us, we will become thankful in any situation!

 

 

Daily Bible Reading

Psalm 23-25 • Acts 21:18-40

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