Giving Thanks in All Things
Scripture Reading: 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
I do invite anybody that would like to stand with me in honor of the reading of the word of God. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 beginning in verse 16. The word of God says,
“Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks. For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus. Amen. For you.”
Thanks so much. You may be seated.
Focusing on “In Everything Give Thanks”
It says there in verse 18, in everything give thanks. That’s what we’re going to hone in on today about giving thanks in all things. When you hear that, is anybody like me that were like give thanks in all things? How can we give thanks in all things? When you read the ESV, it says, “Give thanks in all circumstances.”
I think the heart of what the word of God is telling us here is in good times and in hard times, at all times, we’re to give thanks to God.
How are you doing with that in your life?
Do You Ever Struggle to Be Thankful?
I think sometimes during Thanksgiving, we can think about what we are thankful for and sometimes we might even take it a little for granted because maybe we’ve done it a lot. But let me tell you, thinking about what we’re thankful for, I think it’s a very important thing to do. Isn’t it sometimes, does anybody ever struggle when you’re in the midst of hard times to still give thanks to God? When you’re going through hard times, it can be hard to have a thankful heart. But that’s what the Bible tells us. We’re told to give thanks in all things. We’re not just told to give thanks when life is good and everything’s going smooth. We’re to give thanks in all things.
Is anybody else like me where you sometimes struggle with thankfulness?
Why Do We Struggle with Being Thankful?
I think there’s a lot of reasons. One thing I think about is the fact that if you look around in our world we live in, if you look at our own lives, we have a lot of things. We have a lot of possessions. We have a lot of material possessions. Sometimes I think we can struggle to be thankful because we’re always wanting the next thing. Like we get a brand new phone and then when the newness wears off, we want another phone and we’re not even thanking God for what we got. We get a new TV and we want a bigger TV or whatever else. We’re always wanting more.
Anybody ever been guilty of that where you want more? Where you get this house and then you want the next house or you get this car and then you want the next car. You ever seen your kids get that way where they get this and then they want this and then they want this.
One reason I think we can struggle to be thankful—and there’s many reasons—is we get so much in the world. We get so much about things and things that aren’t going with us to heaven. Things that are temporal. They’re not eternal. And we can get so caught up in having this and having that that we sometimes stop being thankful for what God’s already given us.
How the Enemy Steals Thankfulness
I tell you why else sometimes I think we can struggle with thankfulness: because the enemy will use things to keep us from having a heart of thankfulness. One thing I think the enemy will do is get us to have jealousy.
Have you ever had times where you’re jealous of others? When we’re jealous of others and we’re harboring that jealousy and that envy, it’s kind of hard to be thankful. And I think it happens possibly more in the social media age we live in where you’ll see a snapshot of a moment of a person’s life and you’ll say, “Man, I wish I had a family like that.” Or, “Man, I wish I had kids like that.” Or, “Man, I wish I had a house like that.” And we’ll start the sin of coveting.
We’re going to have a hard time being thankful if we’re harboring jealousy.
The enemy will use all kinds of things to keep us from being thankful. We can get caught up in unforgiveness and we’re harboring that unforgiveness and we’re so overwhelmed by it that we’re forgetting to thank God for the blessings we’ve got. We can get caught up in conflict with people and start to gossip and start to talk bad and that’s not honoring God. Gossip will kill a church in a heartbeat and we got to stop it when we’re around it. We can’t feed it.
When Life Is Hard
More than anything when I think about the verse that we read today where we’re told in everything, give thanks—sometimes our life situations when life is hard. We can struggle to be thankful. Being a Christian doesn’t mean you’re going to have an easy life. In fact, sometimes it’s a lot harder because you got an enemy attacking you, too. But you do have the Lord to help you through it. And we know this earth is not our home. We got heaven waiting.
We can have hard things in life. Health issues are hard. We can have struggles in our marriage, struggles with our kids. Finances are hard. And the list goes on and on.
Sometimes what will happen is the enemy will get us so caught up in focusing on those problems and those life situations that before you know it, we’re not thankful.
Isn’t it such a testimony and such a witness when you see somebody going through hardships and they’re still thanking God? To me, it’s such a great witness because they’re thanking God because they know he’s their creator. He gave them everything. And more than anything, they know God’s going to get them through one way or another. And when they trust in Jesus, they know it’s all good. I’m going to heaven one day. Amen. God’s got a purpose for all things.
But equally, when we get too in our flesh or we let the enemy get us focusing on those struggles, it can be a bad witness. Before you know it, we’re going to be complaining and we’re going to always be focusing on that and we’re not being a good witness for Christ.
Thankfulness Is Commanded
What the Bible teaches is that even in those times, we’re to be thankful in all things. And that’s not easy. But we know this, God knows best. Amen.
One thing that helps us is to remember that the word of God commands us to be thankful. This is one area of obedience. One way we can be obedient as Christians is to have a heart of thankfulness, to be thankful in all things, to be thankful in all circumstances, even when our health is struggling, even when loved ones are sick, even when we can’t pay the bills, even when there’s problems with our children.
1 Chronicles 16:34: “Oh, give thanks to the Lord for he is good, for his mercy endures forever.”
Ephesians 5:20: “Giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
And of course, in our text today: Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks.
Thankfulness Is a Choice
Does anybody want to strive with God’s help to be more thankful to God in the hard times too, at all times?
One thing I think it’s important to remember is being thankful is a choice.
Christians, God’s word says, are to be marked by thanksgiving even in hard times. This is something that can make us stand out and bring glory to God, especially in the midst of hard times.
Being thankful is a choice. We have choices we make every day and we can choose thankfulness.
Would you like to stop today to say, “All right, God. I hear you. I hear what your word says. I’m choosing thankfulness. No matter what I’ve got in my life, I’m choosing God to be thankful to you because I know I’m still blessed.”
A challenge for me, a challenge for you as we consider God’s word: Will you choose this Thanksgiving season to be thankful not just in good times but at all times? Will you choose to be thankful in all things, in all circumstances? It’s a choice. If we don’t choose it, we’re probably not going to do it.
Thankfulness Brings Joy
When you read that in everything, give thanks—we need help to do that. That’s not something we can do on our own.
The Apostle Paul: “I have learned in whatever state I am to be content.” And Paul was beaten, stoned, shipwrecked—yet he said, “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I will say rejoice.”
There’s a reason verse 17 says, “Pray without ceasing” and verse 18 says, “In everything give thanks.” Prayer and thankfulness are tied into joy.
Philippians 4:6-7: “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God and the peace of God… will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
Being thankful and choosing thankfulness brings about joy.
A Personal Story: Losing My Mother on Thanksgiving
I have a letter here that was written by a boy when he was 12-13 years old and he lost his mom. That boy was me.
Thanksgiving is always special to me because it reminds me of my mother who went to be with the Lord on Thanksgiving.
My mom battled cancer, beat it once, but it came back. On Thanksgiving morning she passed away at home surrounded by family.
Part of the letter I wrote at school days later:
“Mom I know that you are really worried about all of us but if you are hurting too bad… we all understand why you have to die so don’t be scared about dying because it will be much more comfortable for you since you would not be suffering… So, bye, Mom. I love you.”
Even in the loss of someone we love, we can be thankful. No matter what life brings us, God can give us strength to be thankful in all things.
Closing Challenge
Will you choose thankfulness? Will you choose to be thankful no matter your circumstances? Be thankful in all things for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
Right now, block out all the problems. Pause for 30 seconds and just think what you’re thankful for. Write it down. The next time the enemy attacks, say, “Get behind me, Satan” and start thanking God.
Let’s choose with God’s help to be thankful in all things.
