In this chapter, Bridges addresses the sin of unthankfulness. He reminds us that we should be thanking God for everything - from our very salvation to the earthly blessings that we enjoy to the circumstances where things do not turn out as we had hoped. He points to 1 Thess 5:16-18 which tells us to give thanks to God in everything.
As I read this chapter, I was challenged to think about how I had responded to God when things did turn out the way I had planned. I have to admit that it was not with thanksgiving. Just last Saturday, I heard the testimony of Marion Gabbot at EQUIP MW conference who also challenged me to think about this issue. The thing that really made me think about it was when she spoke of her daughter who had died at three months of age. Even though it was obvious (even as she spoke about it after many years) that this had been a tremendously painful experience, she was able to say that God had been good to them and had used her daughter's life and death for good. Amazing and hugely encouraging to see the way she could see the goodness of God in all things!
Bridges actually says that we don't have to work out the exact way that God might use a painful event, but we:
...are to give God thanks that He will use the situation in some way to develop our Christian character. We don't need to speculate as to how He might use it, for His ways are often mysterious and beyond our understanding. So by faith in the promise of God in Romans 8:28-29, we obey the command of 1 Thessalonians 5:18 to give thanks in all circumstances.
Another thing which Wendy raised when she blogged through this book is that it is good to think about how we can speak to each other in ways which can communicate thankfulness to God which are worth thinking about.
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