Thanks in advance....the Faith of Thankfulness

Have you ever said to someone, "Thanks in advance for...."? For you to say thanks to someone means they have helped you in some way and to do it in advance shows strong confidence in the person to deliver the desired end result before it happens. Why is it that we can do this with people but when it comes to trusting God it is so painful to let go and let Him do His work with our complete confidence in Him? I really think this is the area in my life that God is working on lately - The Faith of Thankfulness. To me, this means having complete surrender to God's control in your situation and feeling gratitude before you see the end results.

Colossians 2:6-7 says "So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in Him, rooted and built up in Him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness."

Reflecting on my relationship with Jesus I see how it feels so natural to have faith in Him as my savior. As time goes on, it becomes difficult to remember that feeling and we can allow sinful thoughts to enter our minds and we become doubtful in His all-knowing command of our lives. In Colossians, Paul reminds the church that the faith that prompted them to receive Christ must continue to be the center of their relationship with Him. Persevering and staying faithful in Christ and trusting our lives in His hands will allow us to grow stronger in Him. Day by day this will cause us to overflow with gratitude and thankfulness. The verse above doesn't say "and in the end you will be thankful" It says that as you continue to live in Him, you will be overflowing with thankfulness.

We need to remember that our appreciation for what God will do in our lives must come while He does it! We miss out on some of our relationship with Him if we don't allow the thankfulness to be part of the daily experience of growing in Him! Thank Him for what He has done, thank Him daily for what He is doing, and thank Him in advance for what He will do!
Thank you Jesus for where you will take me and my family this minute, this month, and this year and in the years to come! Thanks in advance for all You will continue to do!