Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.
— Hebrews 13:15
We can praise God in good times and we can praise God in bad times. And I don't know that we will fully understand what is good or bad for us on this side of heaven. When we are younger, we think certain things are good, such as success, while other things are bad, such as hardship.
But as we go through life, after awhile we look back and realize that success actually can be bad for some, while hardship actually can be good for others. So we begin to look at things differently. And sometimes the things we thought were really good things turn out to be bad things. On the other hand, the things we thought were bad things actually turn out to be really good things.
God can take all things-bad or good-and, according to Romans 8:28, work "them together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose." He takes all of the events of our lives, the good things and the so-called bad things, and puts them into the oven of adversity. When it is done, we say, "It is good." But maybe we won't say that until much later.
We must realize that as Christians, God is in control of all circumstances that surround our lives, both good and bad. We must also realize that God loves us and is always looking out for our eternal benefit, even if what we are presently going through is difficult. As 2 Corinthians 4:17 tells us, "For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory."
So we need to give thanks to God. There is so much to give thanks for. Have you given thanks today?
But as we go through life, after awhile we look back and realize that success actually can be bad for some, while hardship actually can be good for others. So we begin to look at things differently. And sometimes the things we thought were really good things turn out to be bad things. On the other hand, the things we thought were bad things actually turn out to be really good things.
God can take all things-bad or good-and, according to Romans 8:28, work "them together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose." He takes all of the events of our lives, the good things and the so-called bad things, and puts them into the oven of adversity. When it is done, we say, "It is good." But maybe we won't say that until much later.
We must realize that as Christians, God is in control of all circumstances that surround our lives, both good and bad. We must also realize that God loves us and is always looking out for our eternal benefit, even if what we are presently going through is difficult. As 2 Corinthians 4:17 tells us, "For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory."
So we need to give thanks to God. There is so much to give thanks for. Have you given thanks today?
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