CHARIS MINUTES
Watch the video to hear Rick’s full answer to the question, ‘Should I Be Thankful to God For Good and Bad Things That Happen?’
When we face circumstances or opposition that are not good and possibly even evil, are these things happening to bring glory to God? Not exactly, and to answer whether you should be thankful for these things, let’s look at Scripture.
1 Thessalonians 5:18 says,
In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
Does being thankful to God in “every thing” mean good things and bad things?
You might ask me if you should be thankful for the evil that takes place in this world. Are we meant to be thankful for murder? Well, let’s think about thankfulness. You can only give thanks for what someone has actually done. If you didn’t do something for me, then I can’t say thanks to you for that thing. Well, the same applies to God. You can thank God for only what He’s done for you. God is not the one causing evil in this world, so why thank Him for it?
So, whatever Jesus did at the cross, He did it for you. Anything good and perfect, He did it for you and you can be thankful for it. If it’s evil, it’s from the devil. Here’s good theology: The devil is a bad devil and God’s a good God. They don’t change places. So to answer the question, ‘Should I Be Thankful to God For Good and Bad Things’, you can thank God for the good and resist that which is bad or evil.
