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Isn’t this a wonderful command from a wonderful God? And wouldn’t you love to be able to do this? What a blessed state to be living in, the state of perpetual thanksgiving. “In everything give thanks.” Arkansas is a great state to live in but this state is better, even blissful. The attitude of gratitude is the essence of a beautiful life. One to be desired above all else. Wouldn’t you like to be thankful in all things?

First, there is something that will keep you from this life of giving thanks in everything. The number one thing that will keep you from enjoying this mindset. It’s the spirit of criticism. Being critical is the opposite of being thankful. Here’s what it says in Titus 3:2, “speak evil of no one.” Our mouths affect our brains. What we say influences what we think probably more than we realize (Josh.1:8). Just never say a negative word about anyone. There’s a passage that’s akin to that one: Ephesians 4:29-32, “Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.”

Our text doesn’t say, “For everything give thanks,” because we are not and should not be thankful for everything. There are some things we cannot be thankful for. We don’t need to be thankful for cancer. This horrible disease strikes terror in the hearts of its victims, causing immeasurable pain and suffering and death. We can be thankful when people defeat cancer. The hallway was full of cancer victims waiting for chemo. There is no joy in that hallway. I turned to the victims in the hospital hallway waiting for their chemo treatment and said, “I sat in this hallway for three years and now I’m cancer free.” They applauded!

Also, we should not be thankful for the wrong people do to us. We can forgive what they did to us without being thankful. Giving thanks for everything is different from giving thanks in everything.

You don’t have to be thankful for losing your job, but you can be thankful while you’re unemployed looking for a job, trusting God will give you just the job you need and want. During my last year in Bible college, I lost my job as the staff evangelist at College Park Baptist Church. I immediately thought, “This is not my source, God is!” Within two weeks I became the pastor of an amazing church for the next four years before I headed off to seminary. It is good to lean heavily on Romans 8:28.

Being thankful is always the will of God and that is always good. Whatever you do, when something happens don’t get mad at God. That never helps. It’s the worst thing you could possibly do. Just make sure you’re dong what Romans 8:28 says: loving God and fitting into His purpose. Here are some great examples of this.

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