Today my son Josh and I were talking about offering the sacrifice of thanksgiving—that is, giving thanks for things we don’t like, things we’d rather not have in our lives.. There are times of fierce joy in offering such praise, trusting God to have a plan to work out a bad situation. This definitely honors God and opens the way for Him to show us the salvation of the Lord.

However, at other times it is just teeth-clenching obedience, halfhearted, going  totally against what I want. My mouth says the right words, but in my heart I’m grumbling. Does this count in God’s eyes?

The question is, which of these scenarios demonstrates faith better? For it is faith that pleases God.

The first scenario is obedience bolstered by feelings. The second is faith fighting with unbelief; it is active faith refusing to let unbelief win. In other words, both involve faith, so both are pleasing to God, and maybe the one involving struggle is more pleasing because it is pure obedience without any emotional backing.

So, especially  when we don’t feel like it, we still have the privilege of offering the sacrifice of thanksgiving and can honor God by pressing on in "teeth gritting" obedience, not relying on feelings to support us. In so doing our faith is strengthened and God is honored.

So Whether you feel like it or not, "give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.” ! Thes. 5:18

Picture: even in great sadness we can willfully offer the sacrifice of thanksgiving.