And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Ephesians 5:20 (NLT) In 1860, a ship called the Lady Elgin was shipwrecked. It was carrying more than 300 passengers on a sight-seeing tour when it collided with another ship. Most passengers died but some floated toward shore, clinging to floating debris for hours only to be plunged back into the sea by a fierce undertow. Seventeen fortunate people survived, owing their lives to a young university student named Edward W. Spencer. Edward continually swam into the violent waters to pull out as many passengers as he could before collapsing from exhaustion. He never fully recovered. He lived with broken health, unable to enter the ministry and died …

Suddenly, there was a massive earthquake, and the prison was shaken to its foundations. All the doors immediately flew open, and the chains of every prisoner fell off! Acts 16:26 (NLT) Have you ever been tempted to blame others when things go wrong? I think we all struggle with this one. For some reason, we think we’ll feel better if we point the finger at someone else. When Paul and Silas were in prison, they took a different approach and the results were astounding. They could have blamed each other for getting thrown into jail. In hindsight, I’m sure each saw what the other could have done differently. They also could have blamed God, but instead, they chose to sing about how good God was—not …

In every situation [no matter what the circumstances] be thankful and continually give thanks to God; for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 (AMP) Every day of every year, you will always have something to complain about if you look for it. Answers to prayer don’t always come right away. Healing doesn’t always happen instantly. Relationships go through tough times. So…while you are waiting, you have a choice to make. Are you going to complain or are you going to find something to be thankful for? Sometimes it can be really difficult to think of things you’re grateful for. Even in those times, there is one thing you can always thank God for: the answer that is coming. …

Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole. Luke 17:19 (KJV) We don’t always feel like praising God. Sometimes it seems much more natural to complain, and other times it just isn’t convenient to stop everything to thank Him. However, we can’t live our lives by what we feel. Luke 17:11–19 tells the story of ten lepers who were healed by Jesus. At that time, leprosy was a terrible diagnosis to receive because a life sentence of loneliness accompanied it. When someone showed signs of leprosy, they immediately were separated from their community. If they had a family, they could never again touch their spouse or hold their children. One day ten lepers called out to Jesus. He told them to show themselves …

Then he took the seven loaves, thanked God for them, and broke them into pieces. He gave them to his disciples, who distributed the bread to the crowd. Mark 8:6 (NLT) Mark 8 tells the story of a time when a crowd of over four thousand people gathered to listen to Jesus speak. Jesus had compassion for these people because they had been following Him for about three days and they didn’t have anything to eat. What He did next was interesting. Jesus’ disciples found seven loaves of bread and a few small fish— not much to feed a crowd of four thousand. The first thing Jesus did was give thanks for it. He didn’t complain that it wasn’t enough or worry that the crowd …