(1 Thess. 5:18)
Being thankful for your position and retaining your joy are essential attitudes to develop if you are to be an armorbearer over the long haul. We should always be thankful for the place where God has put us. You may want a change in your life and position, but that will only come when you learn to be thankful for where you are. Not only are we to be thankful in good times, but we are to be thankful during difficult times as well.
I learned a valuable lesson on being thankful when I visited a missionary couple living in northern Romania. The lifestyle there is like going back in time a hundred years in the United States. The couple had to do all of their cooking and baking by hand, and they had five children.
The reason they endured such a difficult lifestyle was to raise up a church and a Bible school. For the first four months after they arrived in Romania, they had no hot water, and when they finally got a hot-water tank, it broke after working only a short time. Then it took several weeks to get it fixed.
Observing their manner of life and their amazing attitude, I asked, "How do you do it?"
They looked at me and spoke a revelation to my heart when they said, "We have learned to be thankful. If we have no hot water, then we thank God we have any water at all. We pray in the Spirit one hour a day, and then we thank God continually."
That is an attitude that will cause you to win in any situation. And it will enable you to be an effective armorbearer for many, many years. The victory begins in thanksgiving.
- Practice developing an attitude of gratitude today. No matter what difficulties you encounter, find something to be thankful about and voice your thanks aloud to God.
- Make a list of the five things you are most thankful for.
- Make a list of some things that you have taken for granted, but you should be thankful for.
- The following are some verses to "prime the pump" to get thanksgiving flowing if you are in the midst of a battle:
"I will give thee thanks in the great congregation: I will praise thee among much people" (Ps. 35:18).
"It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High" (Ps. 92:1).
"Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations" (Ps. 100:4,5).
"But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Cor. 15:57).
Heavenly Father, I have so much to be thankful for! Forgive me for those things I have taken for granted. Thank You for allowing me to live in a free country where I can serve and praise You openly. Thank You for the opportunity to serve as an armorbearer and to have a role in what You are doing in these end times. When I run into difficulties and life gets hard, help me to see those things I can be thankful for. I am so blessed because of Your amazing love. Thank You! Amen.
Excerpt permission granted by Harrison House Publishers