Giving thanks....

As yet another winter storm looms just to our west, I was struggling this morning to feel thankful.  There are some very important events coming up in the next couple of days, a funeral for my cousin with extended family arriving from distant places and my daughter's long awaited quick weekend visit, and the weather threatens to disrupt the plans.  But in 1 Thessalonians 5:18, we are admonished to

"...give thanks in all things, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."  (NIV)

It is easy to be thankful when things are going well, to tell God we are glad for all the blessings we have been given.  It is harder when times are tough - death, divorce, serious illness, job loss, homelessness - to find a reason to be grateful.

When I am hanging on to sanity by my fingernails, I always make an effort to find something for which I can give thanks, and it can be difficult to start.  But once I begin, once I find that first thing, I always find more good things to think about, and it refocuses my attitude and allows me to be more positive about everything.

Perhaps that was God's intended point.  Your focus is within your control, even when life events are not.  If we turn towards the positive, if we willfully consider that the glass is half full, perhaps we will find that it isn't as bad as we feared, and we will see God's hand even in the midst of disaster.

Today I am focusing on being thankful for what I have.  It is the least I can do for the God who has given me everything necessary for eternal life, which is, in the end, the only thing that really matters.