Give Thanks In Everything

But we appeal to you, brothers and sisters, to respect those who labor among you, and have charge of you in the Lord and admonish you; esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves. And we urge you, beloved, to admonish the idlers, encourage the faint-hearted, help the weak, be patient with all of them.See that none of you repays evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to all. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise the words of prophets,but test everything; hold fast to what is good; abstain from every form of evil.

 May the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. ~ 1 Thessalonians 5:12-23

Sunday started out as a cloudy fall day, just a couple of weeks away from Thanksgiving.  We had just held a special offering for people affected by the terrible typhoon in the Philippines.  Little did we know that disaster was just around the corner in our own area of the country.  Just a couple of hours away, while many of the small towns' population was attending church, their homes and all that they owned were blown away in an instant by tornadoes that touched down throughout Central Illinois.  

How can people be thankful in situations such as these?  For one, God knew His people would be honoring Him through worship, so the death and injury count of such storms was very low.  God did not punish those who love Him, but instead, kept them safe in His own house.  These same churches have now become shelters for those that are not able to return to their homes.  

Secondly, the country has rallied together to care for those that have lost so much in these terrible storms.  Donations are coming from all over, as well as many volunteers traveling to help clean up the area so that the victims can begin their rebuilding process.  

Finally, debris has been found almost 100 miles from the areas hit by the storms.  Photographs, documents, etc. are being gathered together to be returned to the areas to be reclaimed by the victims.  Thanks to today's communication abilities through things like Facebook, some of these items were recognized and arrangements made to be returned to the owner the same day!  The return of these items might seem minor to those that have gathered them from their yards, but to those that lost so much, it is just one more item that they still have or will receive back soon after having lost so much.

What difficulties are you faced with?  Even in difficult times, you can find things to be thankful for and must remember to praise God for His many blessings and mercies. God is so very good!

Prayer

Heavenly Father,

We thank you for keeping so many of Your children safe during the terrible storms, even while their lives outside of your protection were being blown away.  Help us all to remember the many blessings and mercies You give all of us each day, despite the many turmoils going on in our lives and the lives around us.  Amen.

~ Wendy Miller