Give Thanks

“Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

1 Thessalonians 5:18

We tend to make a mistake and read into the “this” whatever context we are within—I am to give thanks while standing in the rain getting soaked because God willed for me to get soaked in the rain. That thinking gets us into all sorts of trouble, for we are then left with the result that God is the instigator of everything and are left trying to explain to, say, Filipinos why their city was flattened by God as a typhoon roared over them and why they should thank God for the ordeal. I do not think anyone with any heart wants to be in that position. 

The good news is that Paul actually means something completely different from this viewpoint—it is giving thanks to God in whatever state we find ourselves, but the state of giving thanks that is the will of God—God wants us in a place wherein we can give thanks always.

That changes everything. 

It particularly changes how we deal with the messes we will find ourselves within. Storms roar through because they are part of a natural order still becoming what God intended for it to be—Paul says as much as he speaks of all creation groaning in the labor pains of becoming the full realization of God’s kingdom (cf. Rom. 8:22). We suffer from the frailty of being made (a) free to choose, even to choose badly; and (b) because we are part of that created order trying to become what it is supposed to be. Despite, our suffering, though, we can give thanks to God because in Christ God ensured that all shall be well and all manner of things shall be well. We will not be ultimately destroyed by suffering—it WILL pass; and God is omnicompetent—God can deal with whatever mess confronts God with redeeming grace powerful enough to transcend and transform anything—even the cross on which humanity sought to be rid of God’s Son, turning it into the means of redemption for every human being who ever took a breath, so transforming it into something so holy, we now hang crosses in our sanctuaries as symbols of perfect reconciliation between God and ourselves. 

That is competence!

As we come to understand this powerful gift of grace, we can join with the Psalmist who sang, “Give thanks to the Lord, for God is good and God’s steadfast love endures forever.”

As we prepare for our Thanksgiving celebrations, we have reason to give thanks. God has seen us through another year’s worth of pinnacles and valleys, trials and triumphs, celebrations and laments, and all else that has made the year what it is. God’s grace was there—in other people as instruments of care, compassion, and comfort; in helpers who got us to the pinnacles; and in the simple wonder of God’s mysterious presence felt in odd hours and moments as we walked along. Nothing emptied us completely. Nothing smashed us so far off course, we could not return. In fact, there were wonderful and glorious moments of togetherness, communion, and beauty in love revealed fully. 

God is good and grace abounds. 

We can do this; we can make it.