The story is told of two men walking in a field one day when an enraged bull stormed toward them. It soon became obvious that the bull would reach them before they made it to the fence. “Pray,” one of the men shouted to the other. “I can’t,” the other man said, “I’ve never prayed in public before.” His companion begged him, “Pray.” His friend responded, “The only prayer I know is the one that I heard my father say at mealtime.” His friend, growing more desperate, shouted at him, “Well, pray that one.” His friend did, saying, “Oh Lord, for what we are about to receive, make us truly thankful.”
Don KirklandI am sure that the apostle Paul had nothing like that in mind when he urged the believers at Thessalonica to “give thanks in everything, for this is God’s will for you in Jesus Christ.” For one thing, Paul made a careful choice of his prepositions, directing the Thessalonians then, and us today, to be thankful “in” all things, not necessarily “for” all things.
Giving thanks is an appropriate response to a loving and generous God each day and at all times of the year, but it is during the season of Thanksgiving that our attention turns, or at least should turn, to our blessings in life, spiritual as well as material.
I say should because the spirit of gratitude is either missing altogether or lies dormant in the hearts of many – believers included, of course – who have been quick to ask, but slow to thank. Much of our problem rises out of the abundance of God’s blessings; we have received much and we have received it freely, and we have failed to cultivate the habit of counting our blessings, naming them one by one as the hymn suggests.
A contributing factor in our lack of faithfulness in giving thanks, especially during the holiday seasons, is the sense of sadness and even depression that often overwhelms millions of Americans at Thanksgiving and especially at Christmas, when thoughts are drawn to, and focused on, families more than at any other times of the year.
My wife and I, along with our daughter and her two sons, will return to Gettysburg, Pa., for Thanksgiving to visit the family of our late son-in-law. We will stay at the historic Gettysburg Hotel in the town square, directly across the street from the residence where Abraham Lincoln stayed the night before delivering his address for the dedication of the cemetery there. Our hotel window looks out on the square, and from that vantage point we will watch the Christmas parade on the Friday after Thanksgiving.
All in all, it is a time of happiness for all of us as relationships are renewed and enriched; yet there is the ever-present element of sadness over the loss of one we loved dearly. It is the same with all of us, isn’t it – with joy and sadness mixed in the emotions of our lives, each tempered by the other, the joy moderated by the sadness, the sadness softened by the joy.
We do not like it, but this is our lot in life on this earth, knowing that the day will come our God will wipe from our eyes the tears produced by death and all else that hurts us – but not yet. At best, our days are tinged with, and too often tormented by, sadness and sorrow – some of it almost unbearable and all of it undesirable. Knowing all of this, the apostle Paul reminded us in his letter to the Romans that God is at work in the lives of his children, busy to bring good out of the bad.
Every day, but especially at this time of the year, we are called upon to give thanks to God for his blessings. There are times when such gratitude pours out of our hearts like a rushing river, spilling over its banks, unstoppable. At other times, our expressions of gratitude to God remain walled up behind a dam built of sadness, hurt, disappointment, anger – a full range of emotions – that will not, at least for the time being, allow its release.
The love spoken of in the New Testament is more about what we do for others than how we feel about them. It is the same with the act of thanksgiving, which often flows spontaneously, but sometimes is directed to God as an act of the will – gratitude spoken by the heart in the midst of, and often in spite of, whatever is happening in our lives.
There should be a consistency in our expressions of thanksgiving to God, when all is well and when it is not. With the psalmist, we ought to give thanks to God “when the pastures are clothed with flocks and the valleys covered with grain,” and we should, as did the prophet Habakkuk, rejoice in our God and be grateful to him “when the fields produce no food, there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls.”
Giving thanks should be as natural as breathing for believers, though for many, it is not. Even for Christians, giving thanks to our God – and to others who have contributed to our lives in various ways – is an acquired habit that becomes easier the more it is practiced. As for the thanks that is due others – well, regularly expressing gratitude to God is the key that opens that door, too, and who among us does not need to say, and long to hear, thank you more often – and certainly not just at Thanksgiving. But now is an ideal time for it.