I wanted to remain in that state of closeness to God. I wanted to symbolically build my tent there. I felt so close to God that at that moment, I prayed, “Lord please don’t ever give me my sight back.” I felt like the apostles at the Transfiguration. To my surprise, in the darkness of no sight, I seemed to see God more clearly. I remember lying in the hospital in 2014 after suddenly losing my sight. Allow me to give you some examples from my own life. As we journey through grief, loneliness, pain, abuse, heartache, recurring sinfulness and even addictions, we can still give thanks. We must strive to be thankful in life’s most difficult situations. God doesn’t make bad things happen, but He can work through them to bring about good in us. It is hard to understand suffering and pain. Second, God’s providence and will need to be discerned. First, God’s love is always with us, even in life’s most difficult circumstances. Teresa of Avila once said, “In all created things discern the providence and wisdom of God, and in all things give Him thanks.” Two vital points are made here. The Bible is filled with passages about thankfulness.ġ Chronicles 16:34 says, “Give thanks to the LORD, who is good, whose love endures forever.” St. Being thankful to God is a fundamental aspect of our Christian faith. Having an attitude of gratitude allows us to experience a closeness with God and to experience His love more fully. There is a huge difference between giving thanks to God for suffering and pain and giving thanks to God while in the midst of suffering and pain. The verse from 1 Thessalonians 5:18 tells us to give thanks IN all things, not FOR all things. Are we also supposed to thank God for the trials and pains in our life? Let’s take a closer look…įirst let me make a very important distinction. Another equally difficult Christian principle is found in 1 Thessalonians 5:18 which states, “In all circumstances give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.” It is easy to thank God for our many blessings. Learning to love our enemies and learning to forgive someone 77 times are two of those challenges.
There are many challenging teachings in our Christian faith.
0 kommentar(er)
