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GRATEFUL “And
let the peace that comes from Christ rule in
your hearts. For as members of one body you are
all called to live in peace. And always be
thankful.” When we consider the word thankful, especially in light of the above verse, it is easy for us to say that we are truly thankful people. We are thankful for all the blessings we receive during our lifetime. We are thankful when we receive a promotion in our workplace. For those of us who have owned a business, we are thankful when we close a major deal, when we have a good month, and when we can meet payroll on Friday. The bottom line is that it is all relative. What I am grateful for may be very different from what you are grateful. It does not take much encouragement to get people to be thankful for their blessings. The difficulty does not lie in giving thanks for good times, but in giving thanks when times are not just right, when it seems that the world has closed in on us and has choked all the air out of us. Yet the above verse does not say be thankful in good times or most of the time, it clearly says “always”! “Always” includes difficult and painful moments. How do we make sense of this? I believe the answer lies in how we define faith. Is faith something that is rational or irrational? Do we say that faith is blind and we must work hard to allow our faith to grow? There might be some validity to this. I believe, however, that faith is totally rational. It is a simple process of believing that every word in the Bible is true. It is the process of knowing that we can trust in God because He has proven to be trustworthy throughout history. Finally, it is believing Him when He says, “I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5) “Lord, allow me to be thankful for the trials and tribulations you permit me to go through.” Meditation: Are you always thankful, even when hard times arrive? Jorge L. Valdes, Ph.D.
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