Thankfulness - Week 2

I hope that everyone had a great Thanksgiving. Kids, what was the best thing you ate on Thursday? Even though Thanksgiving has become about delicious food, watching football, playing games with our family, the most important part of Thanksgiving is pressing pause on the busyness of life and reflecting on the good things that the Lord has given us. I hope you had time to do that as well! This morning, we are going to look at a few different passages on thankfulness. Maybe this will be the culmination of a week of gratitude as we move forward into the Christmas season. 

1.. Psalm 136:1-3

Enduring Steadfast Love

We talked a little bit last week about the meaning behind the word “good.” It means “excellent, right, or true.” It speaks of the very nature of God. But I want to focus on a different word that also speaks to the nature of God, and that is the Hebrew word behind “steadfast love.” 

The Hebrew word is “hesed (khe-sed),” and it’s one of the main Hebrew words for love. This type of love is not a feeling. It’s not a romantic kind of love where I’m infatuated with someone. It is an active, faithful and reliable love. It’s a love that is proven through action. It’s often proven in seasons of difficulty. 

Isaiah 54:10 says, “Though the mountains be shaken, and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love (hesed) for you will not be shaken.” When life is falling apart around me, your active, faithful and reliable. This is a core element of God’s nature. And it’s because of this that we give thanks. But it’s goes further than that. 

Bible scholar Darrell Bock says “Hesed is wrapping up in itself all the positive attributes of God: love, covenant faithfulness, mercy, grace, kindness, loyalty–in short, acts of devotion and loving-kindness that go beyond the requirements of duty.” So this unwavering reliable love isn’t expressed out of obligation but out of a willing desire. This is maybe most clearly seen in Jesus, who “did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant,  being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” And why did He do that? John 3:17: “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”

This “hesed” kind of love is expressed fully in the sacrifice of Jesus, and the psalmist tells us that the steadfast love of the Lord “endures forever.” It never ends. It endures the trials by fire. It endures the attacks from the enemy. It endures persecution. It carries us into eternity. It endures forever. 

Knowing this truth, we are compelled to thank God. We offer our thanks in the form of prayers. We offer thanks in the form of singing. We offer thanks in the form of a lifestyle that honors the Lord. 

Have we become so comfortable in our Christianity that we are somewhat numb to the idea of the love of God? Or does the thought of Jesus and His love for us drive us to a deep sense of gratitude? Does it overwhelm our emotions and bring us to our knees?

2.. Philippians 4:4-7

Thankfulness Against Anxiety

This passage was really important for me a few months ago when my anxiety ramped up to a tipping point. My heart was skipping around like crazy, and I was convinced I was having a heart attack. I went to the doctor, explained through tears what was going on. I was on the phone with Jade and was about to drive myself to the emergency room. I went to the cardiologist and finally after having them tell me my heart was fine, things settled down a bit. In the midst of all of that, I read this verse and it changed the way I viewed my anxiety. I started to see it as an absence of confidence in the Lord. I took this verse and whenever I would start to feel the anxiety rising, I would pray. I wouldn’t pray for God to remove the anxiety, I would pray and thank the Lord for everything He has given me. I positioned myself before Him as the Provider in my life, and when I focused on those things, my anxiety would decrease. 

Now I’m not saying that this is the only solution for our anxiety, but I do believe it to be a really powerful truth in practice. 

Do not be anxious, but in prayer and supplication. In prayer, as we are communicating with God. In supplication, in bringing our specific needs before the Lord, an urgent prayer for supply. As you pray and as you beg for supplication, do it from a place of thanksgiving. Do it from a place of gratitude. Do it from a place of recognizing what the Lord has done in your life. And what happens when we approach prayer with thanksgiving? 

“The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” This is the truth that I was resting in. If I pray and bring my needs before the Lord in a spirit of thanksgiving, then I will experience a peace that I cannot explain. I will feel the calming presence of the Lord and my heart and mind will be protected from the lies of the enemy. 

3.. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Thankfulness in Every Season

Rejoice always. Live a life marked by joy. Pray without ceasing. Live a life marked by prayer. Give thanks in all circumstances. 

This can be a really easy thing to do when life is going really well. Thank you God for my job promotion. Thank you God for providing good news at the doctor. Thank you God for healthy children. We are easily driven to gratitude when life is good!

But what about when life is hard? Our natural response to trials is not one of thanksgiving. Paul tells us in Romans 5:3-5, “Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”

When we have right perspective about the trials that we face, it is easier to be thankful in the midst of them. When we suffer well in trials, we build endurance. When we endure trials, our character is strengthened. When our character is strengthened, the result is a hope in a God who is faithful to sustain us. So if we could step out of our season of suffering and see it in its fullness, we would see what God is trying to lead us towards. Unfortunately that technology has not been invented yet, so we are stuck fighting through the suffering. But, knowing that God wants to use our trials to refine us and strengthen us should compel us towards gratitude. Give thanks in ALL circumstances.

This is not an easy one for me. It’s hard to thank God when I am struggling. It’s hard to be thankful when a situation seems to be breaking me down. 

Story of leaving NW to plant starting with Brian leaving.

Application

Thank God…

1.. Because of His Enduring Steadfast Love

2.. Because gratitude fights against anxiety

3.. In every season