Give Thanks and Rejoice

It has been four days since the sermon by Rev. Petrus from 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 which asks us to rejoice always, pray continually, and give thanks in all things. I was very inspired. At the same time, it is difficult to do it. Even I could not continue the initial plan few weeks ago to learn to count the blessings in each day. Recently I also signed up a challenge on how to count the positive things in each day. But even with the correct understanding, it is still difficult thing to do.

What is the correct understanding of giving thanks and rejoice? Rev. Petrus reminded us that it does not mean we give thanks to the event which upset us. On the contrary, we give thanks because we know that God can use any event including bad event for our own good. The devotion Everyday with Jesus also reminded me how to handle failure - accept the failure with the willingness to experience the pain instead of ignoring it or running away; find what we contributed and how to prevent next time, and again, trust that God can make it to something for our own good. The podcast from John Piper also reminded that if we do not give thanks, it means that we rely on ourselves.

So what makes it difficult to practice? One of the things I can think of is the busyness. It is hard to pause to count the blessings. It is easy to count mistakes when we are down. But when we are up, it is not easy to stop as we focus on the things not yet completed. On Monday, I tried to do one by one. At the same time, I learned to handle unexpected event and how to react to them by depending on God. Recalling what happened on Monday, it was amazed that I could concentrate on doing what I could. Tuesday’s first appointment was also smooth. And yesterday was a good day with chance to bike together with my best friends and had a nap in the afternoon.

In conclusion, we need conscious efforts to give thanks and rejoice. It is not automatic and easy, but it is doable. It does not have to be big. It can be 5 deep breaths while finding things to give thanks to God. Pause for a while, give thanks, and rejoice for the life that God has given to us.