¹⁸ give thanks in everything; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. (1 Thessalonians 5:18 CSB)

How good are you at giving thanks in all situations? I know this is where we can falter as humans. But consider when Paul wrote this he was suffering greatly, often imprisoned and doing without proper clothing or food. But he was writing from a deep place of thanksgiving to Christ for his salvation and what he knew what’s coming, an eternal blessing.

To be sure, we are not Paul, but we can have Paul’s deep and abiding faith. We can begin to see life in a different way, live life from a deeper place that is more stable and sustainable. I have watched people spiral down who cannot see past their pain to eternal rewards. And I get this, it is not easy. There have been times in my life where I felt abandoned, but looking back I was anything but. God was there but I could not see Him through my frustration and feelings about the situation.

The value of seeing a situation from beyond it is that it provides the perspective of hindsight. We cannot appreciate when we are in the middle of something what is at work in our life. Thus, we have to learn to trust and see this through to God’s final outcome, even if it is not what we want. God is potentially making a new path for us, one far better than the old path.

Hindsight is were we see all the factors at work, where perspective meets reality.