Let God Be God 2

Read Ephesians 5:15-21.

Thanks... always... for all things. Oh, that’s a big order, isn’t it? How can you be thankful for something that breaks your heart? How can you praise God for that occurrence that gives every evidence of being a tragedy? Humanly, I don’t think you can! But by the Holy Spirit’s enablement, each of us can thank God for fulfilling His sovereign will (thought we may not understand it). We can thank Him because, beloved, we know that God will never ask us to do anything that is not good or that He will not help us to do. Suppose I have a broken leg. Am I to shout, “Hooray! Look what’s happened to me”? No, I can’t rejoice in the pain, the inconvenience, the disruption of my plans and the plans of others. But I can—honestly and sincerely—praise God because I know that He means this very circumstance to bring blessing into my life and the lives of others.

As I see it, God is not particularly eager to receive thanks, as such, from us. But He does want us to acknowledge who He is—God, the Almighty One. And gratitude to Him is the natural response to such perception and acceptance. This truth is borne out in Romans 1, where a picture is painted of unregenerate humankind. God’s quarrel with the heathen is not that they are heathen, but that they refuse to give Him His rightful status as God and (consequently) never thank Him.

Small thought here. The lesson is plain: Let God be God. Acknowledge His sovereignty, yield to His will, rejoice in His working. It is always “for good.” If you will do this, there will arise in your heart a lovely spirit of thankfulness with power to strengthen and heal. This devotional was written by Dr. Robert A. Cook. You can subscribe to his free email articles and listen to his Spirit-filled 15-minute messages at www.walkwiththeking.org. Used with written permission.

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