Thankful

        As we watch the news, as we hear stories about inflation and how this year's Thanksgiving meal will be the most expensive yet - how 'thankful' are you feeling? We're hearing warnings again about family gatherings and the risks involved - is 'thankful' the first word that comes to mind? I think we need 'Thanksgiving' right about now. I need it to help me refocus. I want to start with a short video...

***Video - "A Thanksgiving Anthem"

On this particular Sunday, right before Thanksgiving - amidst all the craziness - I thought it appropriate that we should spend a bit of time looking again a bit at the idea of 'blessings'. I think it's important to understand the spiritual concept here of...

I. Praise before blessing

At Thanksgiving, our thoughts turn to all of the things for which we should be thankful. We think of the blessings we have and give thanks to God. Even despite another year of family gatherings affected by a pandemic - and the distinct possibility of family arguments that might ensue based on strong opinions over said pandemic and other items in the news. And many families will still carry on the tradition of going around the table and saying the many things for which they are thankful.

And God does deserve our praise for the many things we can list off - all of our blessings. But we also know that even if God never did another thing to bless us in this life, He still deserves our praise. But, do we sometimes wait to praise God until He does what we think He should?

And please don't take this as a criticism, but as food for thought. When we have a prayer request, when we ask for God to heal someone - if they improve, we say, "God is good". And He is - but does God's goodness depend on Him answering prayer the way we think He should? Do we maybe get into the pattern of asking for a blessing and then only praising God after He does what we want?

Doesn't God deserve our praise even before a blessing? When we read scripture, it's clear that God does deserve our praise...

A. Despite circumstances

But that's not always easy to do - especially after all we've endured over the last year and a half or so... It has become painfully obvious that we live in a fallen world where bad things happen - frequently. In the Old Testament, when a torrent of awful things started happening to Job, he responded to His wife, "Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?" I don't necessarily like the implications that has for my life - but it's true.

I find it's relatively easy to say 'God is good' when things are going our way. It takes faith to say 'God is good' before we see an answer or when things are seemingly falling apart. I had planned to introduce a new song we could sing for Thanksgiving. Circumstances didn't agree, but I still wanted to share some of the lyrics...

"I choose to worship, I choose to bow. Though there's pain in the offering, I lay it down. Here in the conflict, when doubt surrounds. Though my soul is unraveling, I choose You now. I will praise You through the fire, through the storm and through the flood. There is nothing that could ever steal my song. In the valley, You are worthy. You are good when life is not. You will always and forever be my song."

Those are words that I wish were original from me - but I don't always feel that way. When I'm in the midst of the storm - I don't always want to sing. When I'm begging God in my prayers, when I feel the valley is too deep - when life is not good - I need to choose to give God the glory He is due! - Especially then... The Apostle Paul, despite all of his struggles and trials, wrote...

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NIV)

Be joyful always; (17) pray continually; (18) give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

This is God's will for us - in Christ - to give thanks to God in all circumstances! And of course, it does not say 'for' all circumstances, but 'in' all circumstances. - Not everything is good. Some circumstances are downright awful, even tragic. But God is big enough to handle those 'bad things'. God is big enough to even work 'good' through those 'bad things'. And God deserves our praise no matter the circumstances; whether they are good or bad; even whether we think they are fair or not - God deserves our praise!

And notice - it says, "Be joyful always" - not 'be happy about everything'. I can't really control whether I'm happy or not. I can choose joy. "Happiness is a reaction to something great. Joy is the product of Someone great." "Happiness is smiling when the sun's out, joy is dancing in the downpour." Happiness is based on what's happening. Joy is based on faith in the promises of God!

Those men and women we see in the Bible who endured hard times and kept the faith - they were held up as an encouragement for us! They understood that God deserved their praise...

B. No matter the outcome

They didn't wait until they were rescued or freed, or healed or delivered or pain free or safe or happy or even comfortable; they praised God regardless of what the outcome was or appeared to be.

I think about those 'in the faith' who lived in Old Testament times. They had the promise of a coming Savior - but they waited generations, hundreds of years to see the fulfillment of that promise. Most died long before their Messiah arrived. But we see stories of how they praised God despite circumstances, good, bad or downright bleak.

In the Book of Daniel, we see three faithful men who were given a choice - bow to the king, a man, or be burned to death. Not a choice with which I've ever been presented. Let's look at Daniel 3:16-18 (NIV)...

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to the king, "O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. (17) If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. (18) But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up."

"But even if he does not" - does that phrase show a lack of faith? Does it mean that they had doubts about God or His goodness? No - it demonstrates that they had faith in God whether He chose to save them or not. They honestly didn't know what was going to happen. They knew God could save them, but really didn't know if He would. BUT, they were determined to serve God, to bow only to Him, to praise Him no matter the outcome.

God deserves our praise before He does another miraculous feat, no matter the circumstances and no matter the outcome. Why? Because...

II. We are being blessed

God has blessed us, and God continues to bless us - despite the mess in which our world and our nation and our economy and supply chain currently find themselves. Despite all of that - God gives us life! God sustains us. Many times we ask God for blessings - for strength, for healing, for patience - and we are supposed to. But don't spend so much time waiting for future blessings that you forget the ones you already have.

Don't hold back your praise, your 'thanks' to God. He is working in your life right now to mold and shape you into the person He wants you to be. - The person He can use for His purposes; the person He can use to bring others to a saving knowledge of Jesus. But that doesn't mean it will be easy or pain free.

Ephesians 3:20-21 (NIV)

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, (21) to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

We are being blessed - but it's important to understand - Just because we are blessed doesn't mean we have to put on a fake facade and pretend that everything is 'always okay' - as if, somehow acknowledging hard times makes us 'less spiritual'. Even at a time when we're supposed to focus on all of our blessings, its okay to admit...

A. This life is hard

We are being blessed, but that doesn't mean that we haven't suffered. I am very aware that most of us have experienced the pain and loss that comes with death - grandparents, parents, brothers, sisters, a husband or wife, a child. Many have experienced loss that comes with age, serious health problems, loss of mobility, maybe chronic pain. Many have gone through the loss of a job or a difficult financial situation. Most have experienced family misfortunes of different kinds and maybe even division in our own families, sometimes because of our relationship with Jesus.

Yes, we are very blessed when compared to many in this world - but we do have pains and struggles in this life. And we will continue to struggle with pain and loss. And we need to remember - any suffering or loss or hurt in this life is temporary - despite how it feels. This world is not our final home.

But despite how frustrating and painful things in this life can be - becoming negative, becoming bitter, complaining doesn't really help. I'm not talking about sharing your burdens with a brother or sister in Christ. We're encouraged to do that. But focusing only on the negative isn't helpful. And I'm saying it out loud to remind myself...

I know for a fact that many of you have lots of issues and frustrations about which you'd be perfectly justified in your complaints. But more often than not, complaining tends to breed complaining. Complaining is a habit which feeds on itself. Paul says this in Philippians 2:14-15 (NIV)...

Do everything without complaining or arguing, (15) so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe...

Paul wants us to avoid complaining so we can focus on becoming blameless and pure. We are being blessed, and yes, this life is hard, but complaining takes our focus away from our purpose in this world - as Children of God. We are to shine like stars, to testify to God's greatness and grace. And what it really comes down to - when talking about avoiding negativity and focusing on any blessings, we have to remember to...

B. Give thanks to God

There are discussions as to the history of when the first "Thanksgiving" celebration occurred. Some point back to the colony at Virginia in 1619 where the group's charter required that the day of their arrival be observed as a "day of thanksgiving" to God. Others recognize the Pilgrim's celebration at the Plymouth Plantation in 1621. Abraham Lincoln proclaimed an annual national Thanksgiving Day in 1863, but not all states recognized "Thanksgiving" as the fourth Thursday in November until 1941.

There may be discussions as to when and how to give 'thanks' - but there has never been any doubt as to 'whom' to give thanks. All the way back to the Charter of Berkeley Hundred in 1619, it says, "We ordain that the day of our ship's arrival ... shall be yearly and perpetually kept holy as a day of thanksgiving to Almighty God."

In 2007, on the site of the original Berkeley Plantation, George W. Bush said, "In the four centuries since the founders of Berkeley first knelt on these grounds, our nation has changed in many ways. Our people have prospered, our nation has grown, our Thanksgiving traditions have evolved... Yet the source of all our blessings remains the same: We give thanks to the Author of Life who granted our forefathers safe passage to this land, who gives every man, woman, and child on the face of the Earth the gift of freedom, and who watches over our nation every day."

Despite any suffering or hardships in this life, we are still tremendously blessed and we need to give thanks to God. We need to remember Who has given us life and the promise of eternal life.

John 1:1-4 (NIV)

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (2) He was with God in the beginning. (3) Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. (4) In him was life, and that life was the light of men.

God is The source of any blessing. God is The Creator. Everything that has been made was made through the power of Jesus Christ. And that brings us to the big question...

So What?

Thankfulness is a learned skill and one we many times need to relearn at different seasons in our lives. And even just when we think we're getting good at 'being thankful', circumstance change, we lose something, our health changes, our financial situation changes, we may lose a loved one - just when we think we've learned 'thankfulness' - it seems we're put to the test again.

If learning to be thankful were easy - we wouldn't need so many reminders.

Years ago, during an especially difficult time in China, a missionary named Hudson Taylor wrote to his wife, "We have twenty five cents and all the promises of God!" To the world, they see a man with only twenty five cents as poor. To us, twenty five cents AND the promises of God makes us the wealthiest of all.

We don't have to be limited to just being thankful for what we have - but for what we haven't even received yet! Those who follow Jesus can be thankful for what is still to come! We thank God for so many wonderful things here - and rightfully so - but all of those things are just a shadow of what's in store for God's faithful. There is so much more that we haven't even seen yet! Be thankful!

...And don't forget those who don't yet know the truth. God wants all people to experience the reality, the perfection of Heaven. Be thankful for the grace that God has shown to you through Jesus - and then share Jesus with someone else. Happy Thanksgiving!