Thank [God] in everything [no matter what the circumstances may be, be thankful and give thanks], for this is the will of God for you [who are] in Christ Jesus [the Revealer and Mediator of that will]. – 1 Thessalonians 5:18, Amplified Bible (AMP)

Life isn’t always rosy. Sometimes horrible things happen, and it’s just natural to get a little discouraged when they do. But for some Christians, discouragement isn’t occasional; it’s a way of life. Life is rarely, if ever, rosy for such people, and everyone surrounding them knows it.

For those who are regularly in turmoil, it’s not circumstance that’s the culprit. It’s attitude. Every time we face an unpleasant circumstance, we have a choice to make: face the circumstance with bitterness, or face it with thanksgiving. For example, I heard a story the other day of a missionary family who habitually faced difficult circumstances on the mission field. From time to time, they would have to go without food for extended periods of time, and rather than grumble, they’d thank The Lord for the air they had to breathe! Now that’s being thankful, and when we compare that attitude with the attitude of the average Christian, we see a stark contrast. We get mad about having to pause a movie to do a chore, about being delayed five minutes to a meeting in order to hand out a Gospel tract, and about getting ketchup stains on our white shirts. How much more furious would we be if we went without food for a couple of days?

Let’s face it. Many of us are as quick to complain as the Israelites at Meribah. When things get a little tough, we can’t remember a thing that God has ever provided for us. Yet God gives us the very air that we breathe, and rather than complain about what we don’t have, we need to learn how to gives thanks for what we do have. The more we do, the better we’ll get along with God, with others, and even with ourselves, and stress – though it won’t become a thing of the past – won’t visit us as much as it used to.

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