Thankful Living
Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. (I Thessalonians 5:16-18, Italics mine.)
A life of ongoing thankfulness in Christ is what each of us is called to as followers of Jesus. Frankly, it’s something the world can’t comprehend. It baffles those who are not living looking to Jesus as Lord.
“Your kingdom come, Your will be done in my life” is the prayer of God’s people. It’s a prayer we can pray with confidence. Whatever life throws our way, whatever blindsides us, whatever events, however tragic and painful, come our way, we are able, because of our trust in Christ, to give thanks to God.
Can a parent who loses a child to a reckless, drunk driver give thanks to God? Can a recently diagnosed cancer patient give thanks to God? Can someone in the midst of a heart-wrenching divorce give thanks to God? Yes, yes, and yes!
Here’s why - God is not asking any of us to give thanks for the pain and tragedy our world inevitably brings into all our lives. He is, however, asking us to give thanks in all these things. And there is a big difference between for and in.
As I look back over my life and ministry, there are many painful experiences that I am absolutely NOT thankful for. At the same time, God worked and is working, through all these things and the scars they have left in my spirit, to shape me into the man He is calling me to be.
I would be less than the man I am today without having gone through some of the deeply painful experiences in years gone by. (And to be clear about something, I have no doubt there are some painful experiences awaiting me in the days ahead.)
It’s been maybe a year, but I shared a post about the spokes getting kicked out of our bicycles. That was the phrase a wise and godly friend shared with me while I was serving in Seoul. What he meant by that was that once our personality and character are developed (which happens quite early in life), the only way to effect a change is through traumatic life events.
God knows Dan needed to have the spokes kicked out of his bicycle. And He loved me enough to allow that to happen. I’m a different man today for those painful spoke-kicking experiences. I’m kinder. I’m more patient. I’m less demanding. And I AM A MUCH BETTER HUSBAND AND FATHER. Just ask my wife and children.
I don’t know what painful, spoke-kicking experience you are going through this Thanksgiving holiday. I don’t know whether you brought it on yourself or it came out of nowhere, totally unexpected and undeserved. What I do know is that you can be thankful, not for what you are going through, but in it.
If you will allow Him, God will use the pain you are experiencing to make you into a better man or woman, a more faithful servant of Christ.
I love the promise of Romans 8:28: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
But the truth is, we quote this verse often without understanding what it really promises. Let me ask you a question - What is the good that God promises? And what is his purpose?
The answer is found in the next verse. Romans 8:28 is incomplete without Romans 8:29.
So, here’s Romans 8:29: “For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.”
Don’t trip over the “foreknew” and “predestined” stuff - I’m sure you Calvinists out there won’t. What I want you to see is the phrase “conformed to the image of His Son.”
The good God is working in your life through the pain you are experiencing is that you might become more like Jesus. That is God’s ultimate purpose in all our lives. Christ is being formed in you and me. And if we’re honest, a whole lot of that “forming” only takes place during the most difficult and trying times of life.
Think about that this Thanksgiving. Think about what difficult life experience you can be thankful not for but in. And let God use what you’re going through to make you more like His Son, more like Jesus.
In Christ,
Dan
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