Gratitude in All Things

January 25, 2023

From Jim Hundertmark

Greetings MAC Family!

All of this month at Carman we’ve had a spiritual focus of gratitude. The Bible has a great deal to say on gratitude. Some of what it says is easy, for example, Psalm 107:1 says, “Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, for His steadfast love endures forever!” I say that’s easy because we know that God is good to us. We know that His love is everlasting. So it’s easy to look at that verse when life is going smoothly and say, “God is good!”

However, there are more challenging verses in the Bible regarding gratitude. For instance, Ephesians 5:20, “always giving thanks to God the Father for everything…”, or 1 Thessalonians 5:18, “give thanks in all circumstances…”. These are seemingly more difficult because they clearly state that I should have gratitude even in life’s trials. I don’t know about you MAC, but that’s hard for me sometimes

Since we’ve been focusing on these verses in school, I set myself recently to understanding what God is telling us and here’s what I’ve come to see about gratitude in life’s storms. It's not necessarily all the things that happen to us for which we should be thankful, but rather we should be thankful for Who is with us through all of those things! You see, God doesn't promise us in the scriptures that we won't endure difficulties, or even tragedies; in fact, He says we will, but what He promises over and over is that He will be with us through it all:

Deut 31:6 - "[God] will never leave you or forsake you."

Joshua 1:9 - "the Lord your God will be with you."

Heb. 13:5 "God has said, 'Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."

and so many more...

MAC Family, the next time you’re facing one of life’s many challenges, remember that God is always near the surrendered heart and give thanks to the Creator that He knows exactly what you are going through and what you need. Build your faith on a foundation of gratitude!

Blessings!

Principal H