John 11:41–42
41 … And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. 42And I know that You always hear Me…
After
Jesus had said these words, He cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come
forth!” And the man who had been dead for four days came out of his
tomb!
This is one of the greatest miracles
that Jesus performed. Lazarus had been dead for four days when Jesus
raised him to life. Wouldn’t you agree that death is indeed an extreme
problem? Having no money in the bank, being sick and losing your job,
bad as they are, are not as bad as being dead!
But what I want you to see is this: If Jesus, in the most extreme of problems, shows us that the solution is still, “Father, I thank
You,” then how much more should we thank God in the midst of the less
serious problems we face. If thanksgiving can raise the dead, then let
us give thanks in spite of the negative circumstances and we will see
victory.
Unfortunately, we tend to do the
opposite — murmur and complain. But murmuring and complaining only
magnify the problem. Thanksgiving, on the other hand, is the language of
faith which pleases God. I am not saying that we give thanks for the
problems we have. No, we thank God that He is our answer and that He has
already given every blessing to us. (Ephesians 1:3)
“But Pastor Prince, what I have is so little.”
My friend, thank God for the little
you have and it will multiply. Jesus thanked His Father for the five
barley loaves and two small fish, a little boy’s lunch, and they were
multiplied to feed more than 5,000 people with 12 baskets full of
leftovers! (John 6:8–13) And notice that when the Holy Spirit talked
about this event again, He specifically mentioned the Lord giving thanks
— “the place where they ate bread after the Lord had given thanks”.
(John 6:23) The Holy Spirit seemed to be more pleased with the act of
giving thanks than the miracle of multiplication or the 12 baskets full
of leftovers.
Beloved, the more you thank God, the
more you please Him. What little you have will be multiplied and
whatever is dead in your life will be raised to life!
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