“Give thanks in everything…” 1 Thessalonians 5:18 (HCSB), may be one of the most challenging verses in the New Testament, because not everything in life is easy to give thanks for. It’s helpful to remember that this was written by a man who had been beaten, stoned, imprisoned, shipwrecked, and more for trying to bring good to people by sharing Christ with them.

How do I give thanks in everything? Someone sent me this helpful exercise a few years ago:

I am thankful…

• For the taxes I pay because it means I am employed.
• For the clothes that fit a little too snug because it means I have had  more than enough to eat.
• For the yard that needs mowing, windows that need cleaning, and gutters that need fixing because it means I have a home.
• For the parking spot at the far end of the parking lot because it means that I have transportation and that I am able to walk.
• For my huge electric bill because it means that I have been cool.
• For the pile of laundry to fold because it means that I have clothes.
• For exhaustion at the end of the day because it means I have been capable of working hard.
• For the alarm that goes off in the early morning hours because is means that I am alive.
• For the mess to clean up after Thanksgiving dinner because it means I have been surrounded with friends.

And if there’s nothing else to be thankful for, be thankful for Jesus Christ, and that because of Him, all the frustration WILL one day be out of sight.