“Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” 1 Thessalonians 5:18

It is common for human beings, both believers and non-believers, to pass through moments of happiness and difficulty during their earthly journey. While moments of happiness are usually the results of accomplishments, difficult moments are those of challenges. Even though we all like accomplishment and happiness moments, challenges and difficulties are inevitably good for our character building. The people of Israel experienced that reality with God in Exodus.

Indeed, in the Book of Exodus, we find people who were very happy because they were privileged to be removed from slavery by God. The Bible says that the people feared the Lord and put their trust in Him and Moses his servant when they saw the mighty hand of God (Exodus 14:31). However, those same people started to complain and condemn God and Moses a few days later. They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt?” (Exodus 14:11). They demonstrated an attitude of ungratefulness.

While that is a typical attitude of human beings in front of difficulties, stories like these are meant to provide generations of Christians that know of it, a good ground to learn from; that would save them from God’s wrath.

The strange reality among us believers of today though is that until now, many of us have not learned the lesson. We fail to realize that the same God that is with us in moments we have reasons to celebrate is the same Emmanuel when we pass through valleys of difficulty. Most believers expect a challenge-free-life. As a result, they can’t help complaining against God any time they face challenges instead of showing gratefulness to the Lord irrespective of situations of life they face just as the constitution of God prescribe to all of us.

The good news is that the prescriptions of 1 Thessalonians 5:18 and Ephesian 5:20 are not vain because many men practiced them in the Bible and enjoyed the fruits thereof. Such was the case of Paul and Silas who celebrated God with songs while they were in prison (Acts 16:25). The Bible can also testify of Job by saying in all this he did not charge God with wrongdoing (Job 1:22)

May God help us to be grateful to Him in all circumstances