30 Nov When Gratitude is Difficult

Many of us are still recovering from the annual overeating fest known as Thanksgiving. Others spent Thursday alone, hungry, or desperate, or possibly all three. All of us who have accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior are called upon to be in a constant state of gratitude, despite our circumstances. The Apostle Paul made this clear in his letters to churches. At one point, Paul seems to boast of his suffering for Christ (although he says that’s not what he’s doing):

24 Five different times the Jewish leaders gave me thirty-nine lashes. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. Once I spent a whole night and a day adrift at sea. 26 I have traveled on many long journeys. I have faced danger from rivers and from robbers. I have faced danger from my own people, the Jews, as well as from the Gentiles. I have faced danger in the cities, in the deserts, and on the seas. And I have faced danger from men who claim to be believers but are not. 27 I have worked hard and long, enduring many sleepless nights. I have been hungry and thirsty and have often gone without food. I have shivered in the cold, without enough clothing to keep me warm. 2 Corinthians 11:24-27 (NLT)

Yet Paul said:

20 And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Ephesians 5:20 (NLT)

Really? How did Paul remain thankful through that?!? He says there’s a secret to it:

12 I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. 13 For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.  Philippians 4:13 (NLT)

All of that said, 21st-century realities can make Paul’s words sound uncaring.  Consider: American billionaires’ combined wealth is estimated at $7.8 trillion!  For perspective, the combined wealth of the bottom half of Americans is an estimated $4.7 trillion. When a rounding error of someone’s individual wealth is hundreds of millions of dollars, how can someone unhoused and hungry be thankful?

Back in my talk radio days, a listener asked why a loving God would bless people who don’t believe in Him so richly. It’s a good question. You see, no matter how much or little we have, all of God’s blessings are to serve the same purpose: they are to be used to give glory to Him. Those of us who have accepted Christ know that we all will be called to account for how we used that with which God has blessed us:

Look here, you rich people: Weep and groan with anguish because of all the terrible troubles ahead of you. 2 Your wealth is rotting away, and your fine clothes are moth-eaten rags. 3 Your gold and silver are corroded. The very wealth you were counting on will eat away your flesh like fire. This corroded treasure you have hoarded will testify against you on the day of judgment. 4 For listen! Hear the cries of the field workers whom you have cheated of their pay. The cries of those who harvest your fields have reached the ears of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. 5 You have spent your years on earth in luxury, satisfying your every desire. You have fattened yourselves for the day of slaughter. 6 You have condemned and killed innocent people, who do not resist you. James 5:1-6 NLT

Some passages in the Bible can be difficult to understand. This isn’t one of them. Believers can trust that they are loved and that those who used His earthly blessings for their own glory and not His glory will answer to Him. Paul rested in that assurance. It wasn’t how much God blessed him with, but that Paul used it for God’s glory. Paul’s secret for sustaining in plenty or want is knowing that, whatever our circumstances, God can provide the strength we need to sustain us through it.

So, whatever you’re facing right now, don’t give up on God because I promise you that He hasn’t given up on you. And I encourage you to draw on the reality that if you have accepted Christ as your Lord and Savior, His death on the cross ensures you eternity with Him. That’s something we can constantly give thanks for, no matter our circumstances.

Pastor Jerry Bader