Really Paul?

The key to thanks in everything

This morning as I look back over the past year I could thank God for so many tangible blessings. Another year of God’s provision in our life. A home, a family, a church, a ministry, friends and daily provisions. These all are gifts directly from God’s hand. I thank God for all of these. He has granted Janel and I another year of life together, for which I am extraordinarily thankful. We have been blessed with some exceptional experiences (the privilege to travel to Hawaii) and she has received great care. For all of these I am so thankful. 

But this morning rather than focusing on a list of tangible good gifts from God I want to express thanks to God for the gift of grace that enables us to understand what the Apostle Paul says in I Thessalonians 5:18

18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 

While it is easy and today a bit obligatory to express gratitude for “good things” in our life, things like bonuses and benefits, friends and families, plenty and pleasure, Paul is calling us to a deeper understanding of thanksgiving than just the obvious blessings that we all receive from the Lord. 

As I pondered his words this morning the first profound thought that crossed my mind was, “really Paul, you want us to offer thanks in “every circumstance” of life?” 

This is exactly what He is saying. That as believers God has grace that can work in our life which produces in us a spirit of gratitude not FOR everything, for that is impossible, but IN everything we can maintain a spirit of thankfulness to God no matter what is happening to us. 

This is a much more mature understanding of thanksgiving than simply going around the dinner table and thanking God for some tangible blessing. (Although that is a good idea)  This is the ability to somehow by God’s grace look at life optimistically, even when it is not.  

What is it that enables us to be thankful and that spurs a grateful spirit in us when things are difficult, discouraging, when our families are struggling, when sickness overtakes us, when the future looks grim? In other words, In “every circumstance.”

I believe the answer is found in looking to Jesus. 

Jesus lived this out in the most practical and powerful way the night before His crucifixion, the darkest moment in His earthly life. He was gathered with His disciples in the upper room and listen to His prayer;

19 And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

Wait a minute, He broke the bread which symbolized the crushing of His body and “gave thanks”? Yes, Jesus somehow was thankful in this moment.  

Jesus was not thankful for the pain of the moment, He was offering thanks for the glory and the promise of the future. He knew His sacrifice would provide salvation for the world, crush the head of the Satan, ultimately destroy the works of evil and ensure Heaven for you and me and hundreds of millions/billions of people. 

Jesus did not merely see the battle He was in but He trusted in the ultimate purpose of God for His life and therefore gave thanks in His darkest moment. 

The Hebrew writer tells us that Jesus is our example and that looking to Him is the key for us to live with gratitude in every moment.  

 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame. Heb.12:2

Because of the “joy before Him” He willing “endured the cross and despised the shame” with a thankful heart.   

In Christ the Holy Spirit enables us to see our lives as Jesus saw His, not just marked by the pain of our present circumstance but trusting in the promise of God’s ultimate plan for our life. 

When we see our lives as Jesus saw His, we can understand and attain the high standard for thanksgiving that Paul set in his letter to the Thessalonian Church and actually give thanks in “everything”. 

On this Thanksgiving day 2023, let us, as Jesus did, pause and offer thanks to God, no matter what may be going in our life. Thanks that is rooted not in our circumstances but in our trust in the promises and purposes of God. Knowing that God’s plan is as good as He is and with Him the future is bright and secure. 

BE ENCOURAGED, WE’RE CHRISTIANS!

Troy

Better through your battle

The Psalmist declares 3 times in 10 verses a truth that is not as comfortable some others that we find in the Bible.  

I don’t know about you but I am not in to pain or suffering.  If I have the privilege to choose I am definitely going with less pain, less trouble and less suffering. And yet the scripture in many places tells us that there are times when difficulty is for our development, suffering is part of our sanctification and heartache moves us towards holiness.  

In Psalm 119 there is a section where the writer seems preoccupied with the thought that the Lord uses “affliction” for some glorious purpose in our life.  

67 Before I was afflicted I went astray,
but now I keep your word.

71 It is good for me that I was afflicted,
that I might learn your statutes.

75 I know, O Lord, that your rules are righteous,
and that in faithfulness you have afflicted me.

This startling truth can be misused to teach some twisted view of a God who wants us to be in pain or to live a gloomy life.  This is certainly not the case.  The reality is that we are told that there is no greater blessing than living in obedience and in harmony with our wonderful God. “in His presence is fullness of joy and at His right hand are pleasures forevermore”.  (Ps.16:11)  

And yet, while our God is a God whose Spirit in us produces peace, joy love and hope there is this truth that we find over and over again in scripture that says somehow our problems are part of the process in which the Lord produces good things in us.  

2 things that came to mind as I pondered these verses this morning.

First, we live in a world where suffering is inevitable.  Whether you are a Christian, a Buddhist or an atheist this world, at this time, lives under the curse of sin and all of us are subject to its brokenness.  While there is coming a day where all of these difficult things that are part of this life will be gone, we are yet living in the day where they very much impact our lives.  There is no promise in the Word of God that ensures that a believer in this life will not suffer in some way.  (There is your encouraging word of the day:)  )  We should be careful not to embrace or pursue a theology that teaches that because we are Christians, we won’t get sick, our family will not suffer loss, every deal will go our way and sunshine is always in the forecast.  

However secondly, and very importantly, we need to know that God is a good God.  In the very passage that we quoted above the very next line says v.68 “you (God) are good and do good”.  

The real promise that believers possess that the unbeliever does not is that the “affliction” in our life in those times when we are brought low are the very moments where God shows up and does something divine in us.  

As Christians our troubles may not vanish from our life but neither will our God!  While we are facing them He will use our trials like a surgical instrument to produce something better and beautiful in us.  This is the great miracle. That we are “more than conquerors” even while we suffer affliction.  That the very thing that Satan wants to use to destroy our faith, abolish our future and cause all hope to be lost becomes something good for us.  Something that makes us more like Christ, teaches us more about the love of God and enables us to experience God like never before. Not only that but in these sanctified moments of suffering God’s glory is revealed to others and the Kingdom of God expands.  Wow!

So this morning, don’t run from trial, don’t question God’s goodness and don’t think that something is wrong with you if things are not all that rosy.  Simply tell the Lord that you are surrendered to His will in this and that whatever happens you want His glory to be seen and His purposes to be accomplished in your life.  

Our good God is both powerful and peace-giving.  He who creates the winds also calms the storms.  Trust Him and He will make you better through your battle!  

BE ENCOURAGED, WE’RE CHRISTIANS!

I love you all!
Troy