Posts Tagged ‘gratitude’

It was the regular Sunday morning prayer led by one of our Pastors. He started the prayer by thanking God for our current circumstances.

It sounded so wrong – Thank you for the Corona virus? Thank You that we are locked down in our homes? Thank You that our unemployment rate is 30%? Thank you that calls to the National Mental health Association have increased by 900% in the last month (I heard that stat on Focus on the Family).

Yet, I knew he was right. We are to be thankful in all circumstances (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18). God will use this all for our good and His glory.

Many are already pointing out things that we could celebrate, families are being drawn into closer relationships, the stress of too many things to do at once is relieved, a closer look at how children are less stressed outside of the government school setting, more time to speak of the Gospel, and showing how important the gathering of believers is to our faith.

Sadly, humanly speaking, the negatives seem to outweigh the positives. From the lack of trust being expressed in our elected officials to the economic and mental health fallout, we seem to be much worse off with our lives “sheltering at home.”.

Yet, we can begin to look for the things to be thankful for while we are in this set of circumstances.

Interestingly, the Pastor did not stop at thanking God for our circumstances. He asked God to judge the ungodly rulers and show us the way to stand for His truth in a time when it is not even acknowledged by those in charge.

In his book, “The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment,” Puritan Jeremiah Burroughs (b.1599 – d.1646) makes the point that we can remain content in our circumstances even as we work to change them. Being content does not mean allowing sin to go un-confronted or un-exposed (Ephesians 5:11).

Anxiety and anger will not help us weather this storm that our government officials have brought upon us. What will help us is our faith. Trusting God to provide for us because He says He will (Psalm 65:9; Luke 12:28) and trusting Him to take vengeance where required (Hebrews 10:30), these will give us peace – if we have faith and do not doubt (Matthew 21:21).

Regardless of what the leaders do with the Word of God or the rule of God, Burroughs reminds us: “For when the Lord comes to reward, He does not examine what work men and women have been exercised in, but what their faithfulness has been.”

As we continue to be on lock-down in Pennsylvania (or wherever we are), will we be faithful to thank God for working in our nation? Will we thank Him for every little thing we see Him doing?

If anxiety and anger are problems limiting our ability to be faithful and true to the God who saved us, will we seek help from others in the household of faith (Proverbs 27:17) to get us back to that thankful attitude that God requires of us?