Known by Our Thankfulness

LIFE LESSONS

After I travel to a Majority World country, people sometimes ask, “Were you able to attend one of the local churches there? What was it like?”

Thinking how to answer, scenes from the church flood my mind. I see the exuberant singing of men and women packed in a humble meeting room, the tears of joy on the face of someone sharing a testimony of God’s power, the affectionate hugs and strong handshakes for visitors like me. I hear the “amens” and murmurs of affirmation during the preaching and prayers. And I remember people leaving the service with a sense of celebration, perhaps a bit similar to jubilant fans exiting the stadium after a big hometeam victory.

What was it like attending church in the country I visited?“There was joy,” I will say. “And plenty of thanksgiving.”

This joy and thanksgiving is especially striking given that many believers in hard countries live in desperate circumstances with little reason, humanly speaking, to rejoice.

Yet here they are, living out the Apostle Paul’s exhortation, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” (I Thess. 5:16-18)

I wonder what we can learn about joy and thanksgiving reflected by many of our brothers and sisters in Christ in the Majority World. A few things come to mind.

RELY ON GOD, NOT YOURSELF

Living in a wealthy country with reasonable infrastructure, we have many places to turn in case of a problem. If we get sick, we go to the doctor. If we are robbed, we go to the police. If we lose our job, we look into unemployment benefits. If a storm damages our home, we call the insurance company. In our difficulties, we often try to resolve things first through our own efforts, maybe seeking God’s help or blessing only later.

But imagine living in a place without doctors, or none that are affordable, or where the police are corrupt or unavailable, or where there are no insurance or unemployment benefits, you will most certainly go to God first. You will fall at his feet in prayer and ask for his supernatural intervention. Then when God shows up in power and rescues you from your helpless situation, you will indeed “enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.” (Psalm 100:4)

Years ago, I visited a missionary serving in a poor barrio of Cartagena, Colombia. The conversation turned to “faith healing” and the missionary saw I looked a bit dubious. “People in my church are too poor to go to the doctor,” he said. “The only way they can be healed is if God does it. So, they must pray for God’s healing, and God often does.”

I thank God for all the resources and support networks that he puts at our disposal here. But let’s make God our default, going to and relying on him first, in any given situation.

Christian joy does not come through “pulling ourselves up by our bootstraps,” but through our complete reliance on him. Relying on the Lord and seeing him work is a sure-fire way to grow in Christian joy and thanksgiving.

GO TO GOD ABOUT EVERYTHING, BIG OR SMALL

My grandfather used to tell the story of two men discussing their relationship with their wives.

“My wife and I never fight,” one said.“That is amazing,” the friend answered. “What’s your secret?”

“We decided before we got married that I would make the decisions on all the big things, and that she would make decisions on the small things,” he responded.

“Oh, how did that work out?”“Nothing big ever came up,” he shrugged.

Perhaps this whimsical story has an application for our spiritual lives. If we’re waiting to go to God until a crisis or big problem arises, what happens if nothing big ever comes up? Simply, our communication with him will go dry. We will lose the joy and thanksgiving of seeing him work in the seeming little things that come up every day.

Once I accompanied a friend to the post office in a developing world nation. As he deposited a stack of letters into the slot, he fervently prayed aloud, “Father, please take these letters safely to their destination.”

I’m embarrassed to say that his prayer struck me as curious. I’d never voiced that prayer at a post office before, but I realized that my friend must have reason to do so and felt duly reminded to pray to God in both the big and little.

In fact, we sometimes limit our thanksgiving in a similar way. We make sure to thank God for the “big things”—the new job, the house closing, the conversion of a friend—all important, of course. But we sometimes neglect or ignore his goodness in the seeming “little things” he provides.

—the vibrant color of autumn leaves that speak to his artistry

—a hot shower after a long day

—an encouraging word from a friend

—finding a parking place in an almost full lot

God cares about it all, big or small, and so should we. When we begin to truly see just how much, and in how many ways, he is blessing, our hearts will bubble over and reflect the thanksgiving found in the refrain of the Cindy Morgan song, “Thank you, Lord. How could I ask for more?”

MAKE TIME TO GIVE THANKS

Churches in many parts of the world hold occasional all-night prayer vigils. The first time that I attended one, I wondered if I would be able to last the night. But the night of prayer—divided into sections of singing, Scripture reading, brief teachings and corporate and small-group prayer—went by surprisingly fast.

Urgent needs were brought to the Lord. But equal amounts of time were spent in specific thanksgiving to God. Joy in the room grew as we celebrated his goodness.

I'm not saying we must attend all-night prayer meetings, but it does take time to reflect on God’s nature and goodness and to express our thanksgiving to him.

In America’s goal-oriented culture, we often find ourselves flying from project to project, deadline to deadline, not taking time to thank God for what he’s done in one project before moving on to the next.

Keeping a prayer journal has been helpful to me in this regard. Particularly on days when things are stressful, I find it helpful to make a list of all the things for which I’m thankful—usually starting with the incredible gift of salvation in Christ—and also list the specific things that God has been doing in that day or week.

The psalmists frequently reminded Israel of God’s mighty works as a way to strengthen their faith and inspire their thanksgiving: “I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your deeds of long ago. I will meditate on your works and consider all your mighty deeds.” (Psalm 77:11-12)

In such moments of reflection, the clouds begin to part, and our joy and thanksgiving break through as God reminds us of his faithfulness.

A WORD IN SEASON

During this Thanksgiving season, I pray that we will abound in joy and thanksgiving in the Lord. Perhaps Scriptures such as 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 quoted earlier, plus these examples from our overseas brothers and sisters in Christ, will be helpful in this regard.

Imagine one of them visiting College Church on a visit to the U.S., and then returning home to friends who ask, “Did you attend a church there? What was it like?”

“There was joy there,” comes the emphatic response. “And plenty of thanksgiving.”

Connections gives thanks for John Maust

College Church missionary (with wife, Elsa), president of Media Associates International and grandfather to baby Isabella.