Thanks for Nothing, Lord.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (New Living Translation) - Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.

As I drive to work each weekday, I turn one particular corner and invariably the next light is red. This has become a bit of humor in my morning commute, that nearly every single time I approach this traffic light, it's either RED, or TURNS RED as I approach. So this morning, as I rounded the corner and found the light ahead was GREEN, I kept going, making it through the light before it had time to turn red on me. As I passed the crosswalk into the intersection, the words "Thank you Jesus" escaped my lips. And the Holy Ghost immediately began to teach.

As Paul's letter to the Thessalonians says, each of us is instructed to be "thankful in all circumstances". Yet how many times do I reserve my thanks to God, until something occurs to my advantage? Yes, I remember to thank God for the "green lights": the promotion, the unexpected bonus, the clean bill of health from the doctor. I even thank God enthusiastically when I call and win something from the local Christian radio station (well of course; I'm being recorded!). But the Holy Ghost asked some uncomfortable questions this morning. Did I thank God that one Saturday evening when I received a call telling me my mother had suffered a heart attack? Did I thank God when my wife literally spent 36 hours in bed one weekend with a migraine? Did I thank God when I had to drive her to the emergency room Sunday morning because her migraine just wouldn't subside? Was I thanking God that we had to miss both services on Sunday because I was at her side in the hospital? Was I "thankful in all circumstances"? No, Lord, I wasn't. My thanks to you seems to flow freely when I GET SOMETHING, but not at other times, even though your word tells me my thanks should be more FREQUENT.

Lord, help us to learn to give you constant thanks, for the most important GIFT you've already given us, the voluntary sacrifice of your son. Help us to not just thank you for today's green lights. No Lord, teach us to keep thanking you for your son's gift of his shed blood, because as a result, we now have the opportunity to live eternally in your presence. Your son's one magnificent gift was given long ago, so that we might have joy, that we might be able to pray to you, and yes, so that we might be thankful, each and every day of our life. Even those days when there's "nothing good happening".

Thanks, Lord. I'm remembering to thank you today for nothing at all. And I thank you for everything.

© 2008 Scotty Ward