By F. D. Adkins
The Halloween decorations and the leftover costumes go on clearance, and the shelves fill with everything Christmas including lights, inflatables, gift wrap, boxes, and bows. Some stores even display a giant sign that warns shoppers just how many days they have left to buy those gifts. If one looks really hard, a small section might contain a turkey centerpiece and some Thanksgiving plates.I admit that I love Christmas. I love looking at the Christmas lights and how cozy the house feels with all the decorations and the tree. I love watching Christmas movies with my family and making fudge and listening to Christmas music.
However, as much as I love Christmas time, I love Thanksgiving too. I always say that I am not going to cook too much food, but I always do. The fun part is making each person’s favorite side dish which turns into way more food than we can eat in a week. For example, not counting other side dishes, our dinner includes four dishes of potatoes: mashed potatoes, hash brown casserole, potato salad, and sweet potato casserole. The upside is that dinner is prepared for the next week because we are a family that makes use of leftovers.
It seems though that Thanksgiving is becoming more and more overlooked as the transition from Halloween costumes skips right to Christmas decorations, Christmas lists, Christmas shopping, and Christmas music. I have to confess that I have often been tempted to put my Christmas tree up before Thanksgiving because I want more time to enjoy it. I just get my decorations up and get used to looking at them, and then it is time to take them back down. But then I stop myself and remember that I do not want to skip Thanksgiving.
I bring this up because giving thanks to God is something we should do daily. Philippians 4:6 says, “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God” (KJV). God wants us to come to Him with our needs and requests. However, this verse specifically says “with thanksgiving.” So, when we pray, it is important not to skip Thanksgiving and go straight to the list.
Since this is the first week of November, I am doing my study on giving thanks.
“Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 KJV
According to the verse above, we are to give thanks in everything (every situation/every circumstance). Here are some examples from the Bible of giving thanks:
- Give thanks for what God has already done for you: David sets an example as he writes in Psalm 105. “O give thanks unto the Lord; call upon his name: make known his deeds among the people. Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him: talk ye of all his wondrous works” (Psalm 105:1-2 KJV). We should not forget the work God has already done in our lives. We should remember them, thank God for His works, and tell others. Let God’s work in our lives be a witness to others.
- Give thanks in the midst of the storm: Jonah gives thanks to God in the belly of the fish. Jonah was not in the best of circumstances when he chose to give gratitude. However, Jonah’s heart had been opened. He realized his current situation was God working in his life, and Jonah was grateful for that. “But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord” (Jonah 2:9 KJV).
- Give thanks after the storm: Noah is a clear example because he literally gave thanks to God for bringing him and his family through the storm. When Noah came off the ark, he built an alter to show thanks to God. “And Noah builded an altar unto the Lord…” (Genesis 8:20 KJV). Moses and the Israelites gave thanks after God parted the Red Sea and allowed them to cross on dry ground. They gave thanks to God for letting them escape the Egyptians. They stopped and sang a song of thanks and praise. “Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the Lord, and spake, saying, I will sing unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea. The Lord is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation: he is my God, and I will prepare him an habitation; my father’s God, and I will exalt him” (Exodus 15:1-2 KJV). Miriam (Aaron’s sister) and the other women also gave thanks by playing instruments like tambourines, danced, and sang praises of thanksgiving. “And Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances. And Miriam answered them, Sing ye to the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea” (Exodus 15:20-21 KJV). Daniel gave thanks to God three times a day even though he knew the penalty was being cast into the den of lions. “Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime” (Daniel 6:10 KJV).
- Give thanks to God for listening to your prayers: In Psalm 66, David gave thanks to God for listening to his prayers. “But verily God hath heard me; he hath attended to the voice of my prayer. Blessed be God, which hath not turned away my prayer, nor his mercy from me” (Psalm 66:19-20 KJV). Before Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, Jesus thanked God for listening to Him. “Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me” (John 11:41 KJV).
- Give thanks for God’s provisions: Jesus thanked God for the food before He fed the 5,000 with the five loaves of bread and the two fish. “And he took the seven loaves and the fishes, and gave thanks, and brake them, and gave to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude” (Matthew 15:36 KJV). Jesus gave thanks at the last meal with his disciples. “And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take this, and divide it among yourselves: For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come. And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me” (Luke 22:17-19 KJV).
- Give thanks for the people God places in your life: When Paul arrived in Rome, he was so moved that believers had traveled so far to greet him that he gave thanks to God. “And from thence, when the brethren heard of us, they came to meet us as far as Appii forum, and The three taverns: whom when Paul saw, he thanked God, and took courage” (Acts 28:15 KJV).
“By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.” Hebrews 13:15 KJV
Sometimes, it is not easy to remember to give thanks when we are going through those valleys in life. But, oftentimes, we can look back and see just how God was using that valley. Jonah gave thanks to God from the belly of a fish. He knew he had run away from God. He knew God was getting his attention. His eyes and his heart had been opened, and he was thankful God had not forgotten him. God cared.
And then I am reminded of Corrie Ten Boom’s story of the fleas in the concentration camp. In her book, The Hiding Place, Corrie Ten Boom details how the barracks that she and her sister, Betsie, were held in was infested with fleas. Corrie was asking how they could endure living in this place. Betsie realized that the answer to Corrie’s question had been answered by God in the scripture they had read that morning. Corrie quotes her sister in saying, “That’s it, Corrie! That’s His answer! ‘Give thanks in all circumstances!’ That’s what we can do. We can start right now to thank God right for every single thing about this new barracks” (Boom 209). So, they thanked God for being assigned there together, being able to sneak their Bible in, for the crowding in the barracks that gave them more people to share God’s Word with, and for the fleas. Corrie goes on to quote her sister in the book with the words, “’Give thanks in all circumstances’ she quoted. ‘It doesn’t say in pleasant circumstances. Fleas are part of this place where God has put us” (Boom 210). Later, Corrie and Betsie realized that those fleas did have a purpose. The guards nor the supervisors would enter the barracks because it was infested with fleas which spared those women from much torture and abuse and at the same time allowed them to have their Bible studies which brought many to know God (Boom 210,220).
Let us not forget to give thanks in every situation for everything. Let us remember God knows what will happen tomorrow just as much as what happened yesterday. Let us not forget God is in control. Let us remember that “… we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28 KJV).
If we remember that, we can give thanks in all circumstances and know that every storm we weather will not go without a purpose.
“Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.” Psalm 100:4 KJV
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Sources:
Boom, Corrie, et al. The Hiding Place. Chosen Books, 1998.
