Happy Thanksgiving! (First blog post)

"Another blog? Why?"

I've contemplated writing blogs for the past 4 years and even attempted to write a blog a few years back, but it was lackluster. It was devoid of any meaning and purpose. I merely wanted to share what was going on in my life with my friends and thought that what I had to say was important.

This blog, however, is the complete opposite of what I did with my first blog. Instead of this blog serving man, it will serve for God alone. Should you choose to follow this blog will be your choice and I will not be offended if you choose not to! That being said, let's dig in more about what this blog will entail.

I think it came as perfect timing that I write my first blog post on Thanksgiving. This past week, I continued one of my Bible studies with a very dear friend of mine, reading Colossians 3 together over the phone.

[Side note: I'm blessed to have a friend that distance means nothing and we can still have a Bible study over the phone.]

As my friend, Amber, and I read through Colossians 3 together, this verse stuck out to me: "And be thankful." (Colossians 3:15b ESV) Which then made me think of 1 Thessalonians 5:18 NIV "give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." God knows and understands that we go through trials. He sees our tears; He sees our suffering. But He never gives us more than we can handle.

Think of Job: at the start of this book, God recognizes Job as a blameless and upright man. God knew of Job's character and his faithfulness to Him and allowed the devil to bring trials upon him. Not out of hate, but because God trusted that Job would praise Him still through every trial.

And so Job did.

Through every trial and suffering he endured, he did not sin in his grief and gave praise and thanks to God: "The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD." (Job 1:21 ESV)

Not only should we praise God in the storm, but also when God blesses us. In the past, a lot of the times I would run to God when I was in a storm and hurting, but I would often forget to praise God when things went well in my life. In the past I would neglect praising God because I was too prideful to think about thanking Him for the blessings He gave me in my life.

This is wrong. I should be thanking Him in the good times as well! It's because of Him that I am blessed. It's because of Him that every good thing has been given to me in my life. My first instinct should be to praise and thank Him, and share with everyone what He is doing in our lives. "Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done." (1 Chronicles 16:8 NIV)

Whether you are in the middle of a storm or reaping blessings God has been pouring on you, this is my prayer for myself and for you, my brothers and sisters in Christ: that through every circumstance we give thanks to God, our Father who loves us and that we lay down our pain, happiness, relationships, work, hobbies, etc. at the foot of the cross.