Christ Our Example In Thanksgiving

Issues – November 2019 – Grace & Truth Magazine

Christ Our Example In Thanksgiving

When the Lord Jesus exhorted us through His apostle “in everything give thanks” (1 Th. 5:18 JND ), He was not asking of us something He did not do. We should never forget that He went through this earthly scene tried and tested in every point like we are.

In Matthew 11:16-30 we see Him tried by that fickle generation, unrepentant after all His labors of love and mighty miracles of power. Surely these were circumstances suited to depress anyone; all His labors had been spent seemingly in vain. But how did He react to it all? “At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth ... for so it seemed good in Thy sight” (vv.25-26 KJV). When we turn to Luke 10:21, where the same incident is recorded, we find also that “Jesus rejoiced in spirit.”

Note that it says, “Jesus answered and said, I thank Thee.” Answered to what? Here as always He saw in painful circumstances His Father’s hand and heard His Father’s voice saying, “This is from Me.” Jesus answered to Him in the midst of the trial, “I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for so it seemed good in Thy sight.” He recognized His Father as Lord of heaven and earth, who has power over all, and He bowed to His divine ordering of these painful matters with thanksgiving.

Let your will be yielded to the Father and you too will find great relief from the pressure of every distressing situation, a renewed strength instilled in your soul, and joy in the Spirit every time. Answer to God, Lord of heaven and earth, “O Father, I thank Thee, for so it seemed good in Thy sight.” What a relief to know however difficult a trial may be, He has made no mistakes in His divine ordering of them.

If we are not inclined to answer and say to God, “Father, I thank Thee,” it only proves our own wills are not surrendered to Him. We do not want Him to have His way with us; we are not willing to let Him do what seems good in His sight. Therefore we will fret and murmur and complain, making ourselves still more miserable without helping the situation.

Do not forget that in every circumstance you are, you do answer to God’s voice that is speaking to you through it. You may answer Him by saying, “O Father, I thank Thee for so it seemed good in Thy sight,” or you may say, “Father, I won’t thank Thee for I don’t want what seems good in Thy sight.” Oh, you say, “I have never dared to say such a thing to my heavenly Father!” Well, maybe not in so many words, yet if you fret and murmur and complain about your situation it has no other meaning to God but just that. It would be far better to say it in words so your state of heart would be laid bare to your own consciousness in the presence of your Father than to try to make yourself and others believe you have just cause to fret and complain, and seek to justify yourself in it. Every time a child of God murmurs or complains he is simply answering to God, “O Father, I know Thou are Lord of heaven and earth, but I won’t thank Thee. I don’t want what seems good in Thy sight.”

Turn your eyes upon that meek and lowly One. Take His yoke upon you and learn from Him His secret of rejoicing in adverse and painful circumstances, and you will find rest to your soul. His delight was in His Father’s will. He had no other will but His. You, too, will find a song of joy and thanksgiving when you are ready to give up your will for His and answer to your God and Father, “I thank Thee, for so it seemed good in Thy sight.” Try it and you will see what a wonderful change it will make. You may not see an outward change in the painful conditions, but they will light up with another color. You will see a rainbow in the cloud and have a song in the night (Gen. 9:13; Acts 16:25).

It may be there will be a change in the circumstances, for perhaps your Father has ordered them to teach you to give up your will to Him and say, “Not my will but Thine be done.” If it be so, when His goal is attained He will alter the circumstances accordingly.

Be that as it may, the Lord found peace and joy in the midst of painful situations by thanking His Father for them with a submissive heart. You too will find the same if you do likewise. There is no other way. You cannot get rest of heart by fretting or murmuring or complaining. The more you yield your will to Him and answer Him, “I thank Thee, O Father, for so it seemed good in Thy sight,” the more you will find the peace and joy of Christ in your soul.

By E. C. Hadley