Giving Thanks

November 22, 2022 Jim Musser

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. (I Thessalonians 5:16-18)

I love this time of year. Many view Thanksgiving as a prelude to the beginning of the Christmas season, and you will notice many commercial entities skip over Thanksgiving and directly begin focusing on Christmas. It makes sense. For most, it is much more blessed to receive than to give thanks for what we already have.

For me, however, I have always enjoyed the spirit with which this American holiday was started and what it means for us today. It began with a proclamation by President George Washington after the end of the Revolutionary War, and another presidential proclamation followed 75 years later, made by Abraham Lincoln in the middle of the Civil War, for Americans to pause to give thanks to the Almighty for His many blessings.

Both men were readers of the Scriptures, and I believe both were familiar with the words of Paul—give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. Why else give thanks after so much suffering and death or in the midst of such? It is easy to be thankful when times are good, but it is not natural to be thankful in the midst of terrible times. Our minds and hearts naturally are influenced by circumstances, so when they move in our favor, it is much easier to give thanks. However, when life takes an ill turn, that becomes much more of a challenge. It is easier (and much more natural) to grow angry and bitter about what life has poured out on us, whether it be economic hardship, the death of a loved one, a serious illness, or a betrayal by a friend or family member. Responding to hard times with thanksgiving is not natural, but it is possible with divine help. It has to be when the command is to give thanks in ALL circumstances. Who can do that on their own?

Listening to the nightly news, one quickly realizes the world is place of suffering—war, famine, floods, earthquakes, just to name a few. If there were a nightly news report on individual lives, common occurrences would be victims of violence, fraud, terminal illness, death of loved ones, divorce, and on and on it would go. Giving thanks in a fallen world requires divine help.

One of the common ways we are told to address these challenges is to remember what we do have for which to be thankful. This has been a great help to me. I am continually thankful for my wife, for my home, for the food in my fridge and pantry, for financial provision, and for good health. Yet, I think this is only part of the answer. While we are to be thankful for the good things we receive from the hand of the Lord, Paul commands that we be thankful. Period. Regardless of the circumstances. To understand this, I think we need to look deeper at Paul’s perspective. In Romans 8:28, he says this: And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

He does not say that everything that happens to us is good. To know this is true, all we have to do is look at the life of Paul. What he experienced was horrible. Yet, he recognized that the Lord, through his immense power, uses these circumstances for the good in our lives. So, he could be thankful in all circumstances that he faced. We can as well.

So, I ask you to consider making a list of past or current difficulties for which you can be thankful. To get you started, let me provide some general references to things I have experienced in my own life for which I am thankful and the reasons why:

· For personal rejection which has helped me realize the Lord is truly the only validation I need.

· For the early deaths of my parents, which helped me better understand how to navigate grief and comfort others, and live in hope of seeing them once again.

· For unjust treatment, which helped teach me that the Lord is my defender, and he will work things out for my benefit.

· For the sins of my past, for which I experienced God’s rich mercy and, over time, has taught me to be more merciful towards the sins of others.

· For the persecution I have sometimes received for my beliefs and my way of life, which the Lord is teaching me more and more to respond to with rejoicing rather than with anger.

The Lord is clear through the Scriptures that our thankfulness is not to be based on our circumstances, but rather on our relationship with him. We see this clearly lived out by Jesus and the Apostles. Let their lives be a model for us.