Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.- 1 Thessalonians 5:18
Really? Give thanks in all circumstances?
When I get sick I’m supposed to give thanks?
When I get a hangnail I’m supposed to give thanks?
When I get into a bitter argument I’m supposed to give thanks?
When a loved one dies I’m supposed to give thanks?
When I don’t even know what the future holds I’m supposed to give thanks?
But that is what Paul counsels the Thessalonians. Give thanks in all circumstances. It’s easy to take the easy route and think Paul is some Pollyanna. That is, everything with him is just cheerfulness and light. We might think he was so heavenly minded he was no earthly good. That he never knew suffering.
But that’s just not true. “I’ve been beaten more times than I can count. I’ve faced death many times. I received the forty lashes minus one from the Jews five times. I was beaten with rods three times. I was stoned once. I was shipwrecked three times. I spent a day and a night on the open sea.” (2 Corinthians 11:23-25) Paul certainly knew suffering. He was not above it all. But still he can say, with a straight face, give thanks in all circumstances.
Paul doesn’t tell us to give thanks in all circumstances because all circumstances are good. He’s not asking us to deny reality. But rather, “this is God’s will for you.” It is God’s will that we would be thankful. But not just that, it is God’s will “in Jesus Christ.”
We can afford to be thankful in all circumstances when we know God’s will for us in Jesus Christ. When we grasp all that God has won for us on the cross, when we experience his forgiveness and mercy, when we are hope in the New Creation God has promised, we will give thanks in each and every circumstance. Because we know God stands above each and every circumstance. We know who holds tomorrow, as the hold hymn goes. Our thankfulness is not a broad and general thankfulness of how good the world is. Our thankfulness is in Christ who has won for us the victory and may show us his grace in the midst of every circumstance. So let us be thankful, for that is the will of God in Christ for us.