Thankful Thursday: Thankful for Trials

 From the outside, it doesn't look like we have a lot to be thankful for this year. It has been one of the most trying years we have ever had. I have struggled with my health and have been beaten down and battered by stress from every direction. We have dealt with uncertainty and disappointment. We have faced persecution, we have felt alienated, and we have been slandered and lied to! Hmm...this list is starting to sound familiar...

I believe most of the apostles had years much like ours (except for exponentially worse, of course!). They suffered these trials for most of their lives, yet they were joyful and full of thanksgiving. Paul explains this attitude of gratitude in 2 Corinthians 4: 7-18:

 ⁷But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. ⁸We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair;⁹persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; ¹⁰ always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. ¹¹For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. ¹²So death is at work in us, but life in you. ¹³Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, "I believed, and so I spoke," we also believe, and so we also speak, ¹⁴knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence. ¹⁵For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.  ¹⁶So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. ¹⁷For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, ¹⁸ as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

 We can be thankful for our trials because we know that God is working something in us that is beyond our comprehension. It is all a part the cycle of life and death.

 We suffer. We cry out. We die to self. We are rescued by a loving God. He is glorified and lifted up through our life. We are brought to life again, and we are now able to encourage and build up others. It works like the changing of the seasons!

Psalm 50

A psalm of Asaph.
 ¹ The Lord, the Mighty One, is God and he has spoken; he has summoned all humanity from where the sun rises to where it sets.   

² From Mount Zion, the perfection of beauty
      God shines in glorious radiance.

  ³ Our God approaches,
     and he is not silent.
   Fire devours everything in his way,
      and a great storm rages around him.
 ⁴ He calls on the heavens above and earth below
      to witness the judgment of his people.
 ⁵ “Bring my faithful people to me—
      those who made a covenant with me by giving sacrifices.”
 ⁶ Then let the heavens proclaim his justice,
      for God himself will be the judge.
                         Interlude
 ⁷ “O my people, listen as I speak.
      Here are my charges against you, O Israel:
      I am God, your God!
 ⁸ I have no complaint about your sacrifices
      or the burnt offerings you constantly offer.
 ⁹ But I do not need the bulls from your barns
      or the goats from your pens.
 ¹⁰ For all the animals of the forest are mine,
      and I own the cattle on a thousand hills.
 ¹¹ I know every bird on the mountains,
      and all the animals of the field are mine.
 ¹² If I were hungry, I would not tell you,
      for all the world is mine and everything in it.
 ¹³ Do I eat the meat of bulls?
      Do I drink the blood of goats?
 ¹⁴ Make thankfulness your sacrifice to God,
      and keep the vows you made to the Most High.
 ¹⁵ Then call on me when you are in trouble,
      and I will rescue you,
      and you will give me glory.”
 ¹⁶ But God says to the wicked:
   “Why bother reciting my decrees
      and pretending to obey my covenant?
 ¹⁷ For you refuse my discipline
      and treat my words like trash.
 ¹⁸ When you see thieves, you approve of them,
      and you spend your time with adulterers.
 ¹⁹ Your mouth is filled with wickedness,
      and your tongue is full of lies.
 ²⁰ You sit around and slander your brother—
      your own mother’s son.
 ²¹ While you did all this, I remained silent,
      and you thought I didn’t care.
   But now I will rebuke you,
      listing all my charges against you.
 ²² Repent, all of you who forget me,
      or I will tear you apart,
      and no one will help you.
 ²³ But giving thanks is a sacrifice that truly honors me.
      If you keep to my path,
      I will reveal to you the salvation of God.”

Thanksgiving is the type of sacrifice that the Lord desires from us. 

Will we choose to be thankful when things are difficult and it doesn't seem like there is much to be thankful for? Will we be thankful for the work that the Lord is doing in us during the tough, trying times? Will we praise Him no matter what? These are the questions I challenge myself with at this time in my life.          

The song, Gratitude, that I will be singing on Sunday reflects what I have been learning about offering a sacrifice of thanksgiving. This song tells us to see the blessing in every trial. I believe that God takes one thing away from us so that He can give us something better. We must remember that his perspective is so different from ours. He sees the whole picture, while we see just a piece. May we not forget that He really does love and care us. So, let us be thankful for everything that He is doing in our life.

Gratitude

Nichole Nordeman

• Songwriters: Nichole Ellyse Nordeman

Send some rain, would You send some rain?
'Cause the earth is dry and needs to drink again
And the sun is high and we are sinking in the shade

Would You send a cloud, thunder long and loud?
Let the sky grow black and send some mercy down
Surely You can see that we are thirsty and afraid

But maybe not, not today
Maybe You'll provide in other ways
And if that's the case

We'll give thanks to You with gratitude
For lessons learned in how to thirst for You
How to bless the very sun that warms our face
If You never send us rain

Daily bread, give us daily bread
Bless our bodies, keep our children fed
Fill our cups, then fill them up again tonight

Wrap us up and warm us through
Tucked away beneath our sturdy roofs
Let us slumber safe from danger's view this time

Or maybe not, not today
Maybe You'll provide in other ways
And if that's the case

We'll give thanks to You with gratitude
A lesson learned to hunger after You
That a starry sky offers a better view
If no roof is overhead
And if we never taste that bread

Oh, the differences that often are between
Everything we want and what we really need

So grant us peace, Jesus, grant us peace
Move our hearts to hear a single beat
Between alibis and enemies tonight

Or maybe not, not today
Peace might be another world away
And if that's the case

We'll give thanks to You with gratitude
For lessons learned in how to trust in You
That we are blessed beyond what we could ever dream
In abundance or in need

And if You never grant us peace
But, Jesus, would You please

I thank you Lord for teaching me patience as slow and painful as it may be, because I know that ultimately it will result in peace, joy and contentment. 

Lord, even though you have lined my path with difficult people, I thank you because I know that you are teaching me how to love like you.

Although most days my body feels weak and my mind is overwhelmed with stress, I thank you because you are teaching me to trust you and rely on your strength.

Lord, thank you for being my ever present help!