Giving Thanks Is A Choice!

Introduction:1 Chronicles 16:34 tells us: “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.” I read the story of a man who was accused of a crime he didn’t commit, and because he didn’t have fancy lawyers, he went to prison. He spent 19 years there, and although he didn’t do what they say he did, he decided to make the most of it. He learned to speak Spanish and play seven instruments and earned a college degree. He came up for parole four times, and even though he learned to do these civilized things and behaved well, they weren’t good enough reasons for the parole board to let him go. They didn’t care that he could speak Spanish. But then someone went digging around the case file and evidence box and convinced a judge to look at them. After the judge did, he realized the man had been telling the truth. After nineteen years, he was free to go. So he walked out of prison. And even though his kids were all grown up, and he and his wife had missed 19 years of living together, and he had every reason to be nasty and throw a fit, he didn’t. When the newspaper reporter asked what he thought, he said this: “I’m thankful to be home. God is still good.”

For some of us, being thankful doesn’t come naturally. Sure, it’s easy to be grateful when the sun is shining and the birds are singing a jolly happy song. But life’s not always like that. I am thinking about those who suddenly lost their houses, valuable things, and even their loved ones. Life is hard for them right now before their homes are rebuilt and before they get help from the government and their insurance companies.

Is it possible to give thanks in all circumstances? Yes, it is because “Giving Thanks is a Choice of Attitude!” I’ll show some examples in the Bible of how gratitude is a choice of attitude and is not determined by our life circumstances:

1. Job. Let’s read Job 1:13-21. He lost everything he had. He didn’t have insurance to cover the loss. Not only that all of his children died suddenly. Job didn't have the Bible that taught him about who God is. He didn’t know that later God would bless him 10 times. And yet this is how he responded to his tragedy “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised” (v. 21). JOB WAS NOT IN DENIAL! He knew and he was fully aware that he had lost his properties and all of his children. It must be very hard and painful to bear them, but he believed that God was always good, no matter what! And he chose to praise the Lord.

2. Habakkuk. Habakkuk expresses the attitude that many righteous people have. He is outraged at the violence and injustice in his society. He lists six different problems. His list is repetitious, but it emphasizes just how bad things were. There was sin, wickedness, destruction, and violence, no justice in the courts, and the wicked outnumbered the righteous. Does this sound like our society? Habakkuk was wrestling with a difficult issue. If God is good, then why is there evil in the world? And if there has to be evil, then why does the evil prosper? What is God doing in the world? While Habakkuk begins by wondering or worrying about the world around him and God’s seeming indifference, he ends by worshiping God. Let’s read Habakkuk 3:16-18 – “Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.” Habakkuk’s faith went beyond what he saw with his eyes. He knew that in the end, God would judge the wicked and reward the righteous. Therefore, he chose to rejoice and praise God. No wonder Warren Wiersbe entitles his book on Habakkuk ‘From Worry to Worship.” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones calls his, “From Fear to Faith.”

3. Apostle Paul. In his lifetime, Paul was imprisoned, shipwrecked, beaten, hungry, run out of town, and abandoned by his friends. Nonetheless, he said to give thanks in all circumstances (1 Thessalonians 5:18). Paul believed God controlled his life. Nothing happened to him unless God allowed it. And he knew that God works in all things to bring the good for those who love Him (Romans 8:28). That is why ten out of thirteen Books that Paul wrote in the New Testament, include thanksgiving prayer.