Daniel 2:23
“To You, God of my fathers, I give thanks and praise, For You have given me wisdom and power; Even now You have made known to me what we requested of You, For You have made known to us the king’s matter.”
Daniel has gone from telling the king that God can do it, to going to God in prayer. He and his friends were in intercession as the king’s request was humanly impossible and many lives were at stake; including Daniel and his friends.
God has answered their prayers. God shared with Daniel what the dream was and its interpretation. They are going back to God to give thanks. God came through. He did the impossible.
Gratitude is an important trait. We need to have it all through out our lives. Psalm 118:1 says, “Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever.” Gratitude and thanksgiving is to be the attitude of our hearts. This verse gives the reason, God is so loving towards us and will always be. He has patiently waited for us to come around. He sent His Son to die for us. He’s given us His Holy Spirit to comfort and guide us. He fills our hearts with joy and so on.
James 1:2-4 gives another reason to give thanks, trials. “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” This reason requires some maturity. Often the difficulty of trials causes us not to appreciate their benefit. I’m coming off a very difficult Fall. I wrestled much with unforgiveness. I can’t say I’m completely out of it. What I have learned is that I often have to forgive by faith. Put it out of my mind and claim forgiveness. If I choose to ponder the matter anger often sprouts up and I have to go through the forgiveness process again. It’s more than positive thinking. I have asked Him to help me forgive and I am claiming His promise to help. I am believing it and receiving it.
Part of this process is humbling myself. The act hurt or offended me. Sometimes I am wanting too much for myself. I wanted more space for me. I didn’t get it and I got mad. There are times when anger is justified, other times not. If it’s justified, then we may need to talk to others about it. If we don’t feel heard, we might need to bring that up.
These can be tough lessons. They go better when we see God’s part in them. It takes faith to praise Him in these times. Do it. Praise Him. Do it by faith if it’s not felt. Trust Him. He will grow our faith.
As young believers the concept of giving thanks in the difficulty doesn’t connect. As we’ve walked with Him for a while we’ve seen the many positive outcomes. We get it conceptually. Add some more years on there and we do it, we praise Him.
Lord, thank You for answered prayer and Your many blessings. Thank You for the trials and more importantly thank You for the maturity that You build in us.