Devotional:Thankful in All Things:Philippines 4:1-9

“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your request be made known to God” (Philippines 4:6, NASB).

In the Bible, especially in the Old Testament, God commanded His people to celebrate Feast Days to commemorate significant events in the life of the nation. However, God never commanded that there was to be a specific day of Thanksgiving. Our celebration of Thanksgiving Day is a holiday given to the American people by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863 during the Civil War. According to tradition, the first Thanksgiving was a celebration shared by the English colonists (Pilgrims) of Plymouth, Massachusetts and the Wampanoag people in 1621.

As we approach Thanksgiving Day 2022 the American people are living in days of uncertainty. People are hurting. People are suffering. The reasons are many. Because of all of our trials and tribulations we may question if we have much of anything to be thankful for. How can a parent be thankful when their child has been shot down and murdered? What do the unemployed street people have to be thankful for? Someone has just discovered that they are experiencing expensive car repairs, and they are hard pressed to decide how to best deal with the problem. Yet, in spite of the difficulties that we face, we ought to be thankful.

Paul the apostle wrote to the church a Philippi telling them that they are to always be thankful. In Philippines chapter 4 he acknowledges that the church has many problems. He tells them that they should not be anxious about these things. How could they not be anxious? The answer is that they should pray and submits their requests to the Lord. They should not anticipate that the Lord would remove their problems. Instead, they were to pray with thanksgiving. God might not remove the problem, but they could be sure that the Lord would be with them in their struggles. God would use their struggles to mature them in their faith in Jesus. The Lord would use their struggles to build their character (James 1:2-4; Romans 5:3-5). Thus, we should give thanks in all things.

Prayer: Lord, we thank you for being with us in all things. Amen.