The Importance of a Preposition

Prepositions are, for the most part, tiny little words that we hurry over when reading or speaking.  However, they are exceedingly important.  There is a big difference between in and out, up and down, to and from, and over and under.  Am I jumping "off" the boat or crawling "on" the life raft?


A Bible verse I have often heard misquoted and misinterpreted because of the preposition is I Thessalonians 5:18.  Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.


Give thanks in all circumstances NOT for all circumstances!


Several years ago, at a point where I was expressing my great distress over a situation, a well-meaning friend asked if I had thanked God for it yet.  I resisted the temptation to slug him in the nose and ask him if he was thankful for the broken nose.   Life hands each of us some bitter pills and painful blows.  Sometimes, in the long run, we can actually see how these experiences worked for our good.  Other times it is impossible ever in this lifetime to see that the situation had any redeeming value.  Horrible things happen in this world.  We are not expected to thank God "for" these things.


Thanking God "in" difficult situations is not impossible, however.  We can always thank Him for His loving support in the crises of our lives.  We can thank Him for family and friends who stand by us.  We can thank Him for memories of past good times and the hope for such times in the future.  In the midst of agony of soul, we can cry out, "Thank you, that you are there...that you see me....that you care about me....that you will give me the strength to get through this current distress."


Thanksgiving will soon be here.  Most of us in the United Sates will make a show of giving thanks for family, friends, and material blessings.  Then we will stuff ourselves and go off to watch football.  At the same time many around the world will be cold or hunger or in pain or all of these.  Some will thank God from the midst of suffering, not for what He has given, but for who He is.


Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise...the fruit of lips that confess his name.  Hebrews 13:15