How should I spend my days, Lord? What should I do about that situation? As Christians, we want to know God’s will for our lives. In fact, we are told to learn God’s will for us. Paul wrote, “Do not be foolish, but understand what the will of God is” (Eph 5:17). How do we do that?

“Discovering” God’s will for your life can be very frustrating, but many important things are not mysterious. God is most interested in you maturing in Christ, and has given guidance on how to do that. You probably know already that God’s plan for you does not include a problem-free life. That’s a false promise of health-and-wealth preachers.

If we want to know what God’s will is for us, we should start with the Bible. While not every question about God’s will for individuals is answered in there, God’s Word provides instructions for core aspects of our lives. I am going to write a few posts on what the Bible tells us explicitly about God’s will for us.

In 1 Thess 5:18, Paul wrote,

“In everything, give thanks, for this is the will of God for you.”

It is God’s will for our lives that we give thanks “in all things.” Some have incorrectly said that we should give thanks for all things, but Paul never said that. I don’t think that Paul expected us to give thanks for evil.

What he does say is that in every situation, whether good or bad, give thanks. What might we give thanks for that applies in every situation?

• The gift of salvation: our circumstances never change or remove God’s gift of salvation
• God’s love for us: there may be many times when we may not “feel” God’s love for us. We might not be able to reconcile God’s love for us with our situation. Nevertheless, God still loves us enough to go to the cross for us.
• Family or friends: I give thanks to God for my wife. I give thanks for good friends I still have from my college days. Hopefully, there are family members or friends in your life that you can give thanks for.
• A teacher, therapist, counselor, or other person who has had a good impact on your life: I can give thanks for my spiritual director. She has helped me in my relationship with God.
• Zoom (or other software for online conversations): Do you ever speak with friends or family members over Zoom? I do. I also meet with seminary students over Zoom. It is a huge improvement over software I have had in the past for video communication. God gives good gifts to all. This is one of them, even though some may use it for bad purposes.
• Your church: Assuming that you are part of a healthy, safe church, that is something to give thanks for.
• Employment: if you are employed, even if you don’t like your job, it still provides income. You can give thanks for that.
• Personal hygiene items: I’m very serious. Considering what most humans, over most of history, have experienced, I am thankful for instant-on hot showers, soap, shampoo, and toothpaste. I wonder how humanity continued to “be fruitful and multiply” without these.

When I pray, I often give thanks for one or more of these things. I give thanks for the items in the last bullet point while I’m taking a shower. I have a workshop on praying Scripture to deepen and refresh your prayer life. One of the pieces of this is using the thanksgiving psalms to form prayers.

I asked a group to list ten things that they are thankful for. One person in the group said, “Ten things?”, like that would be hard. If you find it hard, think more about what is around you and what you can do each day.

Think about your life. If you want to do God’s will for your life, give thanks.  What are you thankful for? Feel free to post your responses online. That way, we can all learn of new things we can give thanks for.

If you found this post helpful, please share it with someone.