"This is a constant word to me. It is so easy to give thanks for what one naturally chooses, but that does not cover the "every thing" of the text.
"One morning lately, in speaking of some small trouble, I quoted, "In every thing give thanks," and at once someone answered, "But I cannot give thanks for everything." Now, if our God tells us to do a thing and we say cannot there is something wrong somewhere, for we all know the words, "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me" Phil. 4:13. It is treason to say "I cannot." But first we should make sure that we are commanded to do this that we feel we cannot do.
"I do not think we are to give thanks for everything. To make sure of this verse, which is sometimes quoted with "for" instead instead of "in", I looked it up in seven versions. In six of the seven it is "in;" only one version has "for." So I take it that we may understand the word to mean, not "Give thanks for everything," but"Give thanks in everything," which is a different matter.
"We can do that. We will do that.
"I often think we must disappoint our kind Father by not noticing the little things (as well as the countless great things) that He does to give us pleasure."
~Amy Carmichael~
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"Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly of heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls." Matt. 11:29
"Most Christians are like a man who is toiling along the road, bending under a heavy burden, when a wagon overtook him, and the driver kindly offered to help him on his journey. He joyfully excepted the offer but when seated in the wagon, continued to bend beneath his burden, which he still kept on his shoulders. "Why do you not lay down your burden?" asked the kind hearted driver. "Oh!" replied the man, "I feel it is too much to ask you to carry me, and I could not think of letting you carry my burden too." And so Christians, who have given themselves into the care and keeping of the Lord Jesus still continue to bend beneath the weight of their burdens, and often go weary and heavy-laden throughout the whole length of their journey.
"When I speak of burdens, I mean everything that troubles us, whether spiritual or temporal.
"I mean, first of all, ourselves. Our own daily living, our frames and feelings, our especial weaknesses and temptations, our peculiar temperaments, our inward affairs of every kind- these are the things that perplex and worry us more than anything else, and that brings us most frequently into bondage and darkness. In laying off your burdens, therefore, the first one you must get rid of is yourself."
~Hannah Whitall Smith~
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