God’s Will is to Give Thanks in All Circumstances

“To will what God wills brings peace.”

Amy Carmichael, a missionary to India for over 55 years of her life, is credited with those words. She was also responsible for saving young women from forced prostitution, rescuing Hindu temple children, withstanding violent threats, and enduring long journeys in savage lands for the sake of others.

When asked about missionary life, she described it as “simply a chance to die.” Yet, she was a woman of peace because she was a woman of God. She desired His will above her own. Her complicated life was anything but complicated when it came to obedience.

We have a tendency to overcomplicate the will of God, don’t we? How often have we ignored the clear teachings of Scripture to wander off into the imaginations of guesswork, saying to ourselves, “What is God’s will for me?”

Well, not to trivialize your circumstances, but it is God’s will that you give thanks in all circumstances. That is what Amy did. That is why she openly embraced a life of giving although it was simply a chance to die.

[blockquote class=”scripture”]“Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thess. 5:18)[/blockquote]

Consider quickly, so that you may immediately obey: those who are “in Christ Jesus” ought to do “the will of God,” which involves thanksgiving in all circumstances. It is to be as it was for Jesus in John 4:34, more necessary and pleasant than food. More than bread to the lips and water to the stomach, the will of God ought to be what satisfies us each day.

When the Lord’s will matters more than food, our lives will be full of thanksgiving. We will see God’s goodness in all circumstances, even during the journeys in savage lands and suffering of violent threats. Those who give thanks in some circumstances either don’t know God’s will or are not in Christ Jesus—either being of grave concern. Thanksgiving is an essential mark of the Christ follower, one who wills what God wills, which is to give thanks in all circumstances.

This Thanksgiving, let your food be the will of God, not the turkey (Jn. 6:27).

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