“In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” (IThess 5:18)

It has always interested me that this admonition does not tell us to be thankful for only the good things. The “every thing” goes way beyond the good and takes in the setbacks, the defeats, the tragedies, the offenses we suffer.

How can this be? It sounds incredible, doesn’t it? How do we thank God for an accident that takes a child from us? Or a suddenly discovered cancer? Or a mugging that leaves us hospitalized? By faith.

There are many things that we will never understand this side of Heaven. But the more we know and trust God, the more willing we are to entrust Him with the fallout of the bad things that occur in our lives. With gritted teeth sometimes we have to say, “ We know that all things work together for good to them who love the Lord…” (Rom 8:28)

Many things that seemed to me a setback turned out to be a blessing with time. And some other things still seem like setbacks after years. But I believe that if it hadn’t been for some of the really hard times in my life, I would never have come to the intimate knowledge of God that is more precious than my life.

Even if we don’t witness the good that emerges from the bad, we trust that God is doing what He only does, good.