Thanksgiving IN ALL Circumstances

With Thanksgiving approaching I thought it fitting to write a little bit about giving thanks, but not necessarily in the traditional way. When November rolls around people suddenly get incredibly thankful. You hear people talking about all the things they are thankful for, and Facebook timelines are full of "Day 1: I am thankful for..., Day 2: I am thankful for..., etc..." It won't take you too long to come across all the traditional stuff either: Family, Friends, Jobs, Church, Pets, Homes, Possessions, etc... Almost everyone is thankful for these things in one way or another and post about them. I too, am thankful for all of these things.

However, this month, God has been revealing to me, in several ways, that in addition to all of the obvious blessings in my life, I need to be thankful for the not so obvious blessings, for the way that God works through the hard and difficult times, for what He accomplishes in the midst of agony.

"Give thanks in everything, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus." -- 1 Thessalonians 5:18

I love this verse, because it does not say "Give thanks FOR everything." It says, "Give thanks IN everything." Other versions say, "in all circumstances." There are plenty of things in life that are hard and difficult, things that no one would ever be thankful for. However, what we are taught from the Bible and what God asks of us is that we are thankful in all circumstances, even if we are not thankful for all circumstances.

Look at the story of Joseph. Joseph had a ton of wild events in his life, some good, a lot bad. His brothers wanted to kill him, but decided instead to sell him into slavery. He was wrongly accused of rape and thrown in jail. He was forgotten and betrayed by a man he had helped in jail. He ended up living most of his life in a land that was not his home, away from his family, but his words at the end of it all are very telling. 

When Joseph revealed himself to his brothers he said, "And now don’t be worried or angry with yourselves for selling me here, because God sent me ahead of you to preserve life.  For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there will be five more years without plowing or harvesting.  God sent me ahead of you to establish you as a remnant within the land and to keep you alive by a great deliverance.  Therefore it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household, and ruler over all the land of Egypt." -- Genesis 45:5-8 

 

And later after Jacob dies, Joseph again tells his brothers, "You planned evil against me; God planned it for good to bring about the present result—the survival of many people." -- Genesis 50:20

Despite all that terrible things that happened to him, Joseph was able to be kind, forgiving, and thankful for the situations in his life, because he was able to see how God orchestrated each one to bring him to a place where he could save millions of lives.

In your life, every action you take, every event that happens, has far reaching consequences. Sometimes good events cause bad consequences down the line. Sometimes bad events cause good consequences, and everything in between is possible. It is important to remember, however, that nothing surprises God. He sees all possible outcomes of all possible events, and orchestrates them/allows them in order to fulfill a specific purpose. Sometimes we can see that purpose and sometimes we cannot, but we need to learn to trust and be thankful in ALL circumstances in life, even those ones we feel are more like curses than blessings.

Finally, one other verse that fits this perfectly is Philippians 4:6.

"Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God."

This is such a revealing verse, because it is not just saying to offer thanksgiving in everything (which it is saying), but it is revealing that petition and requests can coincide with thanksgiving. Bringing requests to God, laying those things that worry you at His feet, petitioning for things, all of this can happen in the midst of giving thanks to God in those very situations you are worried about. You can be thankful and still have requests, and this is ok, so long as your heart is in the right place, a position of thankfulness and humility.

So this Thanksgiving, give thanks for the blessings in your life. Give thanks for your health, family, friends, pets, jobs, homes, cars, clothes, electronics, vacations, etc..., but also give thanks for the blessings in disguise, those things that may not be immediately obvious. Give thanks for the way that God works in your life, even through hard times. Give thanks for Him, because He is ultimately all we need, and the fact that He loves us and offers salvation is enough to fill an endless number of days with overflowing thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!