Be thankful

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

This week I have been reading a lot about being grateful and thankful for things. Here are some thoughts from something I read.

Researchers found that grateful people report higher levels of positive emotions, more satisfaction with life, and more vitality and optimism. They also found grateful people show lower levels of depression and stress.

What's more, they found that people who write weekly about things they are thankful for are healthier. They exercise more regularly, report fewer physical symptoms, and feel better in general than people who journal about neutral or negative life events.

Finally, the research showed that people who daily count their blessings report higher levels of alertness, enthusiasm, determination, and energy.

Let me be clear, there are terrible things that happen to us that may not be the will of God, but us praising God and giving thanks in spite of them certainly is the will of God.

We can always find reason to give thanks.

John Milton wrote about every grey cloud having a silver lining. Deciding to give thanks, no matter the weather, will train us to look for it. Continuing in this manner day after day ensures that gratefulness will become a normal mode of operation.

No wonder those researchers found that people regularly counting their blessings grow happier, healthier, and more optimistic. After all, that research wasn't discovering anything new, but rather confirming the will and wisdom of God. God already knows how great it is for us to be grateful.


I lay in bed last night thinking about what I could be thankful for. Once you start thinking about it is easy, especially here. I was comparing myself to the people who live in the flats behind our compound, literally a few metres away. I was thankful that I had a nice bed to sleep in (some of them probably don't); I have a secure house with bars on the windows to help stop break ins, I have mosquito netting to stop mosquitoes, I have food in the fridge and in the freezer, I have electricity and even a generator if that fails, I have education, I have books to read, the list goes on. I have so much to be thankful for.

Talking about being grateful for stuff. We had a pilot for dinner this week from South Africa. We were asking about the security situation in south Africa. He told us the story of one evening when he felt the Lord saying to him, look at all the stuff you have, you know it is only just stuff, I have allowed you to have it but it is just stuff. The next few days he was away for a few days at an airshow and when he returned home he had been burgled and all the stuff had been taken, even the kettle! He was able to replace it on the insirance but still he said it was a good lesson for him.