Challenge: Thankfulness

…strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light.  Col 1:11-12 NASB

Keep in mind – I’m in the Pauline epistles.  That means sentences that go on and on and on.  Since I try to keep these challenges short, I will very frequently only post short segments of sentences.  Please don’t allow what I write to be an excuse to take these verses out of context; the context is not only amazing, it’s also critical.  And now on to our regularly scheduled blogging…

It seems that the theme for many this Thanksgiving has been growth in the area of learning to give thanks for the good and the bad.  Ouch.  Not my idea of fun thankfulness around the Thanksgiving dinner table.  But, as I read these verses this morning, something dawned on me – we cannot truly know how to be thankful until we are thankful for the “bad” in our lives.

In verse 11, Paul talks about attaining steadfastness and patience.  We don’t attain those things without trial and challenge in our lives.  Then, the joyous giving of thanks comes as we are strengthened to attain steadfastness and patience. 

I don’t know that I will ever come to the point of truly liking the trials and challenges I face in life.  But, I will never know the true depth of thankfulness until I learn to be joyful in those times and then learn to have eyes open to the incredible ways the Lord is blessing and growing through those times.  That is my challenge.