1 Thessalonians 5:18 – give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
“Give thanks in everything” is a divine expectation and one that is good, as Christians should be thankful in all circumstances. However, this is hard for us to put into practice and even harder to explain to others. Us as adoptees continue to struggle with this especially since we might have many unanswered questions.
We ultimately do not deserve the things we have been given. In fact, if we were to get exactly what we deserved, we would already be in hell. The very fact that we are still alive and breathing is a gift from God. If we can see that even the small things we have are a blessing from God, we can try to be thankful for them instead of taking them for granted. The person that we take for granted the most is God, because deep inside we sometimes just expect to have everything we want and often get upset if it does not work out in our favor. So, we get angry when we don’t get what we want but, on the other hand, we get excited about the blessing when we do get something and then tend to forget the “Blesser”. But if we lower our expectations to the floor, we will then see that every single good thing we have is a gift from God (James 1:17), and that will help us be more grateful to Him.
Now in the context of thanksgiving, what do we give thanks for? Can we be thankful for the good things? Sure! We can be thankful for good health, a new job, safety, family, etc. How about the opposite? Can we be thankful for bad and unfortunate things? If an illness takes away loved ones or if we are never able to reconnect with our birth families, should we be thankful for that? Can we be thankful for losing our jobs or our homes? Of course not! We surely cannot be thankful when bad and unfortunate things happen. Look at the verse again, it says “give thanks in all circumstances” with emphasis on the word “IN”.
The understanding of this verse changes with just a small two letter word, “in”. This is to say that circumstances good and bad will happen regardless and we need to train our hearts to give thanks in and despite all circumstances occurring as Jesus would have us do. Just look back on this year alone, and see how much chaos and confusion the world has thrown our way, everything from unfortunate shootings and deaths, racial injustice, the devastating impact COVID-19 has had on everyone, not to mention the presidential race that tore our nation in two. It is impossible to be thankful for any of these things. But there is beauty in the fact that, in the middle of all this, one thing has been constant and that is our Lord, and He is in control over everything. And He is asking that we trust Him and give thanks despite all these chaotic things occurring around us or situations that we as adoptees have experienced or are continuing to experience. That is something that we need to learn and mold our hearts into doing daily.
Let us look at an example of this and how we are to handle ourselves taken from Habakkuk 3:17-19 – Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. God, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer’s; he makes me tread on my high places.
Farmers back in the day, and I am sure even today to a certain extent, rely heavily on their crops and herds to multiply and grow so they could provide for themselves and their families. A bad crop or a bad year is devastating because it could wipe them and everything they own out entirely. But what is the verse saying? It is that despite the crops yielding no fruit, and fields producing no food, and the flocks not multiplying, the farmer is still rejoicing in the Lord to the extent of finding joy in God alone, not what his fields have or have not produced. 2020 to 2021 have not been fruitful years. In fact, it just feels like a huge burden on everyone’s shoulders, years that no one wants to remember.
Perhaps this lesson on giving thanks is exactly what God wants us to understand? Can we truly say, “I exalt you Lord, and rejoice in what you are doing!”? Can we find the strength that we need to persevere in God alone, trusting that He will carry us through whatever 2021 and the following years have ahead of us? Sometimes I wish I could just rewind my entire life and start all over again, but again we need to remember that we are not in control. We need to instead praise God that He is in control and is with us in the circumstances and give thanks despite what has gone on in our lives.
Job says in chapter 1 verse 21, “the Lord giveth, the Lord taketh, blessed be the name of the Lord.” The will of God is that we give thanks in all circumstances, and when we grumble, complain, get angry, or are frustrated we are living outside of God’s will. We need ask God over and over again to work on our heart to change and transform it so that we can indeed give thanks in all things and find true joy and strength in Him trusting that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose – Romans 8:28.
Look all around us, everything we have is from God himself. There is nothing that we deserve or have the right to call our own, and still we have failed to appreciate God as we should. God, knowing this, chose to enter our world, a sinful, self-centered place that existed full of people that chose sinful desires and pleasures over Him. Jesus Christ the Son of God lived a sinless, perfect life in His Father’s eyes and died on our behalf on the cross to forgive us of our sins. While we were sinners and enemies of God, He chose us and died for us and gave us the free gift of salvation in Him. “But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8. Just think of the enormity of that! This is why we are not in hell already, but instead He has provided a way for us to spend eternity with him in heaven. This is what should truly make us thankful and appreciate what He has done for us. Faith in Him redeems us from a life of ingratitude and frees us to enjoy and thank Him forever!
Choose to be thankful.
Sandeep