A Grateful Heart

“Thanksgiving is the atheist’s nightmare.”

On Thankfulness amid Unfavorable Circumstances

Now that’s an easy thing to sing when things are going well, “non novis domini” Not unto us, O Lord, but unto thy name be the glory. But it is far more difficult to sing those words when things are going bad, when things are difficult. Paul’s writing to this church, you know, back in chapter 1, he says about these Christian people at Thessalonica, “You became imitators of us and of the Lord in spite of sever sufferings. You welcomed the message with joy, given by the Holy Spirit,” in spite of the fact that by receiving the message you would be persecuted. Paul is alluding there to the fact that part of the experience of the people of God is the experience of the thorns and the thistles, of the pains and the losses, and the crosses. There’s story of Daniel. You remember, some officials persuade the king, King Darius, that he should issue a decree that for thirty days, anyone who prayed to any other god other than to King Darius would be thrown into the lion’s den. How does Daniel respond in those difficult circumstances? Well, Daniel chapter 6 tells us. Three times a day he got down upon his knees and he prayed, giving thanks to the Lord. In other words, thanksgiving belongs to every department of our life, every season of life, every joy and sorrow cometh from above. And therefore we can recognize that. We can acknowledge that. Daniel had built it into his life that, in every circumstance, he would get down at his window and, day by day by day, and three times a day would give thanks to the God of heaven. It was built into the fabric of who he was – to give thanks to God.