Doing Thankful

Nope, that title is intentional. "Doing Thankful" is not a grammatical error. I could have named this "Sovereignly Good" or "Three Levels of Thankfulness" but it may not serve it's secondary intent; as a click bait. Though my purpose is to preach to myself, I hope to enjoin others to grow in the virtue of thankfulness with me.

My Selfish self

I recently heard a brother in Christ who shared how he saw the LORD's hand moved in his life from being silent for months to having granted the request he was praying for. He credits God for answering his plea and for guiding him through and out of the valley of uncertainty. Scripture says to "rejoice with those who rejoice", and I do rejoice and praise the LORD for His graciousness towards others. Yet deep inside (I know) my old self wrestles with envy and covetousness whining; "God what about me? When will You grant me my breakthrough?"

Well, after grumbling, I snapped back thinking that's not right, I'm supposed to resist self-pity and be joyful for the victories of others. So in an attempt to ease my guilt for being too self-absorbed, I'd repent and grapple to find reasons to thank God setting my situation aside. I confess, this definitely is an area where I need much pruning from the Vinedresser (John 15:1).

It's easy to thank the LORD when things are going my way, when everything is "good". But when times are bad, to remain positive I tend to compare my circumstance with those of others. I'd imagine folks that are in worse situations then use the contrast as grounds to be grateful. This seems a reasonable excuse but underneath, it's still a form of selfishness.

I always need to remind myself that the ultimate sense of what is "good" depends not on how I perceive it in any given situation, rather on God's own definition. What may appear to me as good, can be the opposite in His eyes, and vice versa. Until my mind is perfected – after this earthly life – in the other side of glory, being deliberate in thanking God for what is good (in His sight, not mine) is something I am continuously and purposefully working on.

Being thankful to God ought to be common to a Christian for the LORD desires to be thanked. In the healing of the ten lepers in Luke 17:11-19, only one came back, "praising God with a loud voice; and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving him thanks." Christ called attention to this, saying; "Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine?" This account didn't capture the reaction of the nine when they left and were cleansed from leprosy. We cannot discount the possibility that they too rejoiced as they set out to show themselves to the priests as instructed by Jesus. We can speculate that they too – similar to the Samaritan leper – felt thankful but unlike the foreigner, the nine were not recorded showing their appreciation. It is not enough to feel thankful, it has to be demonstrated by word and/or by deed, thus the title "Doing Thankful". There should be a purposeful act to express gratitude – like the leper who turned back – he personally conveyed his thankfulness verbally with worship, which on his part was an act of saving faith in the Son of God who affirmed it, telling him; "Stand up and go; your faith has saved you."

Thankful IN and FOR everything?!

I commend the Samaritan for his notable example laying a great precedent for us to emulate. Though admittedly, his example of "doing thankful" is the easiest of all. It is not that difficult to be grateful to God especially when you're the recipient of something good. It's quite normal for humans to give thanks even if the benefactor isn't divine. We usually say 'thank you' when we're at the receiving end of kindness. However the Bible unnaturally exorts us to "give thanks in all circumstances" (1 Thessalonians 5:18). That preposition "in" means a world of difference. It's telling the reader that regardless of the situation you are IN you're told to thank the LORD "for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." Frankly, this is a hard pill to swallow. Besides being apparently irrational, this runs counter to human intuition especially when going through terribly tough times. Let's test this, just try filling in the blank with something not good (/bad) and observe the jostling inside your brain telling you that's not normal;

"LORD, I thank you IN allowing __________ to happen IN my life."

It's humanly unnatural to be grateful for anything we deem as bad or evil, so why did God in His inspired Word instruct us to give thanks IN all circumstances? If you think that's hard, let's max-up the difficulty in "doing thankful". If giving thanks IN every situation is already objectionable, how about contemplating on Ephesians 5:20; "giving thanks always and FOR everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ".

Take note once more of the preposition in the verse because that word FOR elevates this kind of thanksgiving to the highest level of quandary. To better comprehend this, let's apply what we're learning. In the statements below I'll cite a hypothetical yet palpable situation (e.g. cancer) for us to grasp the difference.

1.] "LORD, I thank you IN allowing cancer in my life."

2.] "LORD, I thank you FOR this cancer in my life."

In the first statement, one is thanking God in spite of being IN a condition where he has cancer. However in the second, the one praying is thanking God specifically FOR the cancer itself. Do you see how radical this is? How humanly speaking, this is so not natural. Some people may even call it insane. But why? Why does Scripture tell us to give God thanks IN/FOR everything?

Christ did not hide the fact that the road to heaven is hard (Matthew 7:14). It is clear in the Bible that His followers are to be pruned to conform to His image. Our fealty to our King Jesus was never painted as problem-free (Philippians 1:29). But even with these revelations, we still remain hopeful of God's mercies and graciousness to spare us from suffering. Yet if such a time comes when we are denied comfort and ease, we ought to be ready to respond with thankfulness even when doing so feels absurd.

Knowing the One you're thanking

How is it possible for one, who's in the midst of hardship, to be grateful IN and FOR it? Answer; by finding solace in the truth of who the LORD God is. This is crucial to possess a thankful attitude toward God, one must personally know who He is. In the pages of Sacred Scripture, among His immutable attributes, He has revealed Himself as both sovereign (Isaiah 46:9-10) and good (Exodus 34:6). These two divine traits (God's sovereignty and His goodness) both have to be established in the believer for thanksgiving to flow genuinely come what may. We need to know, believe and understand that the God we serve is infinitely boundless in His rule and His goodness inexhaustible. This is an appeal to faith and reason. It is hopeless to trust (and be thankful to) a God who is not All-powerful, All-knowing and All-present, for how can he prevail over anyone who challenges him if he is not almighty. Moreover, how can he ensure the "good" of his people if he can be overwhelmed by an enemy? Such a god would not be able to carry out his plan unhindered even if he is good, hence a God who is thank-worthy must be unconquerable (/sovereign).

But besides being supreme above all, this Deity must be good as well. Why? Because it's scary to put your faith in a malevolent god. Picture an omnipotent being capable of anything but dubious in nature. Would you trust and thank that god in the midst of your troubles? Of course not, since he's likely behind the misery you're in and enjoying it. However if the God of the Bible has revealed Himself as good [in His nature], then like Joseph the son of Israel, you can rest assured that whatever evil may befall you, the LORD in His sovereign-goodness meant it for good (Genesis 50:20). I understand the struggle if this teaching is heavy on you, nevertheless I'm not inventing anything but gleaning truths found in the Bible.

The creed "O give thanks to the LORD for He is good" appears a number of times in the Old Testament to remind Israel and the church that we ought to thank God because He is good. And we in the New Testament can further ground our confidence in His promise; "that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose." (Romans 8:28). Based on surveys this is the most popular promise passage among Christians, and why not? It assures believers that no matter what, God will work all things together for good. But let's not forget that the "good" is always according to His purpose, not ours.

So how do we now apply this "doing thankful" especially and in spite of the bad, the worse and the worst that life throws at us? Paul reminds us in Colossians 3:17; "And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." My understanding of the phrases "whatever you do" and "do everything" is that this kind of doing encompasses every thing humans do. We are therefore commanded to give thanks to the Father through Christ no matter the situation knowing [now] that God is sovereign and good. And He who promised His children is faithful to work all things together for good even in the direst state we, the world or the enemy can ever think of. No one said this would be easy but it's something we – who are born of God – need to grow into as we trust and abide in the Vine (John 15:5).

Not just Sovereign but Good

Yet come to think of it, we Christians have been thanking God for the worst case that ever happened in history but maybe we haven't seen it in this light. We commemorate it and call it "good" even though it was the [Fri]day our Savior suffered and was killed. We solemnly celebrate the sacrament of Communion in remembrance of Christ's supreme sacrifice and indebtedly thank God for it. So why can we do these despite the gruesomeness of His death? Because the LORD has given us the bigger picture (the Bible) and privileged us to know the end game which primarily proves that God is always in control and absolutely good. In Peter's preaching at Pentecost, he proclaimed God's sovereignty saying; "this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men." (Acts 2:23). The hearers of his message were cut to the heart and asked "what shall we do?" He answered presenting the LORD's mercy and goodness – the gospel – exorting them to; "Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." (Acts 2:38).

Do you see it? In His preeminence, God foretold and pre-planned the suffering and death of His own Son for the salvation of men. Observe the LORD's superintendence at work over the crime against Christ to ultimately bring about His good (redemptive) purpose. It echoes Genesis 50:20; what the people then meant for evil against Jesus, God meant for good.

In all of these what I'm really trying to preach to myself is this; the LORD God is in charge of everything and since He is good, I can trust and thank Him IN/FOR wherever He has placed me. So thank God, O thank the LORD, for Most High and Holy is He. And may I say again, we can believe Him IN/FOR all our circumstances for He is sovereignly good.
GOD bless...


+ jourNics
2024-Dec-27