 |
| Source: christianity.com |
I just loooove this time of year--crunchy autumn leaves, crisp dewy mornings, and pumpkin spice lattes. It is a season that lends itself to being grateful, as we look towards Thanksgiving and think upon the harvest.
The Bible speaks about two distinct times when we are to be thankful to the Lord. The first is when good things happen in our lives. We see this when Jesus heals the ten lepers. Leprosy was a devastating disease in biblical times, rendering people social outcasts and labeling them unclean. Unlike others, Jesus felt compassion toward these lepers and sought to heal them. Let's look at this passage together, starting in Luke 17:11-19
"When he saw them [the ten lepers] he said to them, 'Go and show yourselves to the priests.' And as they went they were cleansed. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; and he fell on his face at Jesus' feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus answered, 'Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?' And he said to him, 'Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.'"
Jesus' comment, "Where are the nine?," just gives me chills up my spine. We can see from this comment that it truly hurts Jesus' heart when we neglect to thank Him for our blessings, and I am saddened to realize how I have neglected to thank Him so many times, too. Clearly, the Bible teaches that we should thank the Lord when He heals us, restores us, and blesses us with good things.
However, the Bible also speaks to another time when we ought to be grateful--the difficult times. First Thessalonians 5:18 tells us, "give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."
ALL circumstances?
Yep, all circumstances.
We see this again in James chapter 1: "Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." (v. 2-4)
Oh, it is sooo hard to be joyful and thankful in the difficult circumstances of life, is it not, dear friend?! So what does God expect us to do? Just grin and bear it and, through gritted teeth, thank Him?
Not exactly.
Romans 8 speaks to this, in verses 28-29:
"And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers."Like the passage in James, we see here that trials and difficulties serve a redemptive purpose: James says they "make us perfect and complete" and in this passage Paul calls them "good" because they make us "conformed to the image of his Son."
So no, dear friend, we do not have to pretend to be grateful in these hard circumstances. Instead, we can ask God to open our eyes to see, and our heart to truly understand, that these difficult seasons are in fact, quite good.
I love this prayer that author Jerry Bridges offers to us in his book Respectable Sins:
"Father, the circumstance I am in now is difficult and painful. I would not have chosen it, but You in Your love and wisdom chose it for me. You intend it for my good, and so by faith I thank you for the good You are doing in my life through it. Help me to genuinely believe this and be able to thank You from my heart."May this be our prayer, too, dear one, as we strive to be truly grateful for ALL the Lord brings to us, in this season of thanksgiving, and the whole year through!
No comments