Thanks For That?

When I was young, my mom would tell me to be thankful in hard times that we had food too eat, that we had clothes to wear, that we had a roof over our heads.  During the hardest of times, she would point out that there were others around us who would gladly change places with us.  Regardless of the hardship, she encouraged us to be thankful.

What she said made sense and I had no doubt that she was right.  She was, after all, Mom.  And, I had heard of the starving children in Africa as well as the ones in China who were responsible for the fact that I had to eat everything on my plate.  How could I not be thankful when I had what others were dying without?

However, what God calls us to is deeper than just being thankful for what little we have, He calls us to be thankful even when that little is taken from us, even if we should be the desperate and starving ones for whom we were told to remember when we felt sorry for ourselves.  The Bible tells us to, "Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus" (1 Thess 5:16-18).

More than that even, the Bible tells us to even be thankful for difficult times and the very difficulties themselves: "Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds" (Js 1:2).  Be thankful to the point of joyfulness for times of trials and the very hardships themselves?  What is the sense of that?

The sense is 1) God said so and 2) hard times enrich us with good character: "because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance" (v. 3).  And, the character developed in this hard times serves to mature and complete us: "Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything" (v. 4).

We can and ought to be thankful in all circumstances, to be thankful even for the challenging circumstance, to be content regardless and to joyfully face whatever the world may throw at us, even when life seeks to take away our joy.  As Paul tells us in Philippians 4:4-13, we can rejoice and be content in all circumstances because "Christ strengthens us."

In the difficulties, even due to the circumstances, Christ is with us and gives us strength to take what the world gives and find reason to give thanks to God - even for that, that thing you are facing that seems too much to bear.  Yes, even that.  Jus' Say'n.