“Always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Ephesians 5:20 NIV
As believers, we have so many reasons to be thankful but sometimes we are caught up in moments in our lives where we feel God hasn’t done enough or where we feel our prayers have not been answered. So why should we thank God? Let’s look at a few reasons.
We thank God because He is God. When we praise God we acknowledge his greatness in creation. We are His creation, therefore we praise Him (Psalm 148:1). The consciousness of his creation and sovereignty should fill our hearts with humility and command our servitude. The breath He gave us is enough reason to thank Him (Psalms 150:6).
Another reason we thank God is that He is good. While we praise Him because He is God, acknowledging His existence is not enough, our devotion ought to be deeper than that, there must be a deeper reason for our gratitude. We are not just thanking Him out of courtesy for creating us and everything around us. God also wants His goodness towards us to inspire devotion.
In Exodus 19:4-5, before God communicated instructions to the Israelites, He had done many miracles for them. He showed them His goodness and their response was thanksgiving (Exodus 15:1-19). The goodness of God should make us respond in gratitude.
We have an invitation to “taste and see that the Lord is good” (Psalms 34:8). He wants to see and experience His goodness.
Lastly, we are thankful because we trust God. We have an example in Christ who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross. By the example of Christ, we know that every soul that is committed to God will always win in the end and that the suffering of this present time is not compared to the glory that will be revealed in us (Romans 8:18).
It’s like you enter a match knowing you won even from the beginning (1 John 5:4). This is why in Philippians 4:6 we are admonished to be anxious for nothing. Regular people might give thanks when their request is met but we are thankful even as we are making our request because we know we win in the end!
We will be more thankful if we learn to document the goodness of God. Make it a culture in your life that the good news of the faithfulness of God in your life is passed down to your children and generation.
Count your blessings, and tell of His goodness and it will surprise you what the Lord has done (Isaiah 63:7).
Bible Reading Plan:
Luke 1:57-66, Ephesians 2:11-22, Psalms 119:25-32, I Kings 6-7