NORTHSHORE CHURCH OF CHRIST

Jannet and Carrie live next door to one another. Both have husbands and three children, and they both enjoy roughly the same level of income.

Jannet wonders why her life is so hard. She wishes she had more help with washing dishes and clothes. She wonders why her husband doesn’t bring flowers more often and why he gets to be the one who goes to work every day, leaving her to the drudgery of home life. She scrolls through Facebook and looks with envy on the picture-perfect lives of friends and neighbors.

Carrie wonders why she is so blessed. When she does the dishes, she thanks God for the food which dirtied them and the fellowship her family enjoyed while eating together. She washes her kids’ clothes looking forward to full closets and being ready for the week. When her husband leaves the house, she is grateful for a man who takes care of his family. She enjoys giving.

From the outside, Jannet and Carrie are physically blessed in almost identical ways, but their attitudes are almost opposite. One sees her job as drudgery and remains discontent with the things in her life, always wishing for something different, something more. The other loves her life, enjoys her family, and sees her work in the home not as endless toil but as a gift and an honor.

The difference between these two women is not one of circumstance but rather one of perspective. Many people fall on both sides of this attitude spectrum. What makes the difference?

Are happy people happy because of their pleasant circumstances? Miserable people think so. They see everyone else’s life through rose colored glasses while seeing their own life through gray-tinted spectacles. They become like Job’s accuser, saying things like, “He is only jolly because things always go well for him.”

But happy people are disposed to joy often despite their circumstances. They understand that life on this earth (“under the sun” as Solomon wrote) is not and never will be perfect. Evil comes upon the righteous and the wicked alike. Blessings come from the Lord. The secret to a contented life is to thank God for all things and to never quit thanking Him. Endure the bad, and enjoy the good, knowing that God is with you through all of it. This is the way to true joy.

When you find yourself falling to depression, feeling miserable and discontent, ask yourself whether you have thanked God recently for His gifts. It’s probably time to count your many blessings and remind yourself all that God has done for you. We have so many reasons to be thankful!

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. (1 Thessalonians 5.16–18)

It’s the old chicken-and-egg problem. Which came first: thankfulness or contentedness, the grateful attitude or the peaceful spirit?

“I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.” Paul wrote that to the Philippian church while he was in prison in Rome! He is thankful and even joyful while bound and restricted. See Philippians 1.3–5.

Also from prison, he wrote the Colossian church, “We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven” (Col. 1.3–5).

Also from prison, he wrote to his friend Philemon, “I thank my God always when I remember you in my prayers, because I hear of your love and of the faith that you have toward the Lord Jesus and for all the saints” (Philemon 1.4–5).

How could Paul overflow with thanksgiving while in chains? It’s because he realized God had greatly blessed him in Christ and God was in control of his problems. God reigns over all of life. Jesus is not wincing on His throne, waiting to see if everything will turn out okay for His people. No! He is working to make sure all things work together for good for those who love Him. God is not some esoteric spiritual entity with no relation to our current reality. He created reality. We live because of Him. Paul knew that.

Paul thanked the Father, “who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light…[and] delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Col. 1.12–14).

When you realize what God has done for you in Christ Jesus, it’s impossible not to overflow with thanksgiving. So why aren’t we continually thankful and at peace in our spirits like Paul? Plainly, it’s because we lack faith. We forget God’s great deeds on our behalf. We forget He raised us up with Christ Jesus and seated us with Him in the heavenly places. We forget He wiped away the eternal consequences of our sins and loved us while we were still enemies spitting in His face. We forget the nails, the blood, the pain at the cross—that it was all for our sakes.

Paul, what is the secret to establishing our faith? How did you stay strong and find peace even in the darkest circumstances?

“I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me” (Phil. 4.11–13).

Thank God for Paul and the word preached through that man. What a blessing God has given His people to teach us these attitudes so we can know supernatural peace and heavenly joy right here on earth!

Which came first then? It seems the thanksgiving for God’s work came first, and Paul’s calm, contented spirit was built on the grateful recognition of blessing. We should remind one another constantly of our exalted place in Christ and the blessings we now have and are promised to have in the future! We should listen to God, who has the eternal, omniscient viewpoint, trusting in His knowledge and control. When He says we are blessed in Christ but we don’t feel it…trust that we are still blessed in Christ and give Him thanks.

Give thanks in all things, even when you’re down. Let’s learn Paul’s secret.

Amen!
Blessing and glory and wisdom
and thanksgiving
and honor and power and might
be to our God forever and ever! Amen.
(Revelation 7.12)

Doors have always opened for me, and I praise God for that. I am not the kind of guy who grabs life by the throat and forges my own way through life, though I’ve often wished I were. Rather, I tend to plod along my path until a different one opens. Sometimes I take the new path, and sometimes I don’t. There have been times in my life where I wondered if another door would ever open. But God has created a world full of opportunity and good things to fiddle with.

You can probably look back on your life and trace the bends and forks in the road. Perhaps you thought you had hit a dead end from time to time, but those always turned out to be stop signs or U-turns. There was always more road to travel.

Some of us lost close loved ones along the way, and we had to ride some bumpy roads. Some of us are hitting bumps right now, and they hurt. Yet, even with the bumps in the road, we see God’s blessing and favor towards us.

Thanksgiving Day is upon us, coming up this Thursday. No matter what our current situation, we always have a stack of blessings to count and a multitude of reasons to thank God.

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4.4–7)

Thank God for your salvation:

But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness (Rom. 6.17–18)

But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Cor. 15.57)

But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere (2 Cor. 2.14)

I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service (1 Tim. 1.12)

Thank God for all people:

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. (1 Tim. 2.1–2)

Thank God for your brethren:

I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers (Eph. 1.16)

I thank my God in all my remembrance of you (Phil. 1.3)

We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints (Col. 1.3–4)

We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, (1 Thes. 1.2)

For what thanksgiving can we return to God for you, for all the joy that we feel for your sake before our God, as we pray most earnestly night and day that we may see you face to face and supply what is lacking in your faith? (1 Thes. 3.9–10)

We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing (2 Thes. 1.3)

But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth (2 Thes. 2.13)

I thank God whom I serve, as did my ancestors, with a clear conscience, as I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day. (2 Tim. 1.3)

I thank my God always when I remember you in my prayers, because I hear of your love and of the faith that you have toward the Lord Jesus and for all the saints (Philemon 4–5)

Thank God for everything:

…giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ (Eph. 5.20)

Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. (Col. 2.6–7)

And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 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. (Col. 3.15–17)

Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. (Col. 4.2)

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. (1 Thes. 5.16–18)

Thank God for your food:

The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. (Rom. 14.6)

For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer (1 Tim. 4.4–5)

HAPPY THANKSGIVING