12 Disciplines of a Grateful Heart

Part 5

Thank God especially in the midst of adversity

1 Thessalonians 5:18 

In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God 

in Christ Jesus concerning you.

Giving thanks while you’re going through a trial is not an easy thing to do. How many of us praise God when things are rough? Do we stop to sing praises and speak words of gratefulness when all our lives seem to be crumbling all around us?

No. I know that my natural tendency is not to do this. Once the trial is over and I can see God’s hand in it, I am quick to praise and thank God for the things He has taught me and the way He brought me through. But during the trial? Sadly, no.

This verse in 1 Thessalonians tells us to give thanks IN everything! Not FOR everything, but IN everything! Big difference. Giving thanks FOR everything is usually after the fact, but giving thanks IN everything is praising God while the troubles and trials are swirling around us and threatening to drown us, and yet, we are to give thanks IN them! 

1 Thessalonians 5:16

Rejoice evermore.

If we want to rejoice, we have to be thankful. Thanksgiving is essential for rejoicing to happen. We can’t possibly ‘rejoice evermore’ if we’re grumbling and complaining.

So why should we give thanks IN everything? Why not wait til afer the hard time has passed and we can see more clearly? Then we can thank God with a heart of gratitude. Well, firstly, because God commands it. But there are other reasons as well.

Gratitude to God in our difficult times gives our witness to a lost world a greater impact. If we’re going through a hard time and we are still joyful and praising God, what does that say to those around us? It speaks volumes. It shows that we have something or someone greater than our problems that we are trusting in. And when people ask us how we can be so cheerful despite what’s going on, we have an answer!

Another reason to give thanks is that thankfulness replaces anxiety with peace. 

Philippians 4:6-7

Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication

with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.

 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding,

shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

When we let our requests be made known to God with thanksgiving, God’s peace will fill our hearts. This word “keep” is the Greek word phrouréō, which means to hem in, to protect, to mount guard as a sentinel. So, God keeps our hearts and minds. He protects, He watches over, He guards. When we are thankful in the midst of adversity, God brings peace. The kind of peace that only He can bring. Although we may feel anxious all of the sudden, we don’t have to stay that way. If we continue to pray and give thanks to God, His peace will keep us. The peace that passes all understanding. I love that. We can’t even understand the kind of peace that God can bring. It’s beyond our human minds and yet it’s the peace that God gives.

Another reason to be praising God in the midst of adversity is that it focuses our attention on God rather than on our circumstances.  If we are continually fixing our eyes on our problems, the pain becomes unbearable, the situation seems hopeless, peace eludes us. But thanksgiving shifts our focus to the Lord. And by focusing on Him, it reminds us of promises in the Bible that we can cling to. Things we know for certain. 

We are not alone

God loves us unconditionally

We are eternally secure

The Lord walks with us

God will bring us through

God will work through the hard time to make beauty from ashes

It is for our good and His glory

God sees the bigger picture and He is in control

Gratitude can energize us physically, emotionally and spiritually. When we work on having a heart of gratefulness and a spirit of thanksgiving, despite the pain and disappointment draining us at times, we focus on God and He will revitalize us. Just being in His presence and offering Him a sacrifice of thanksgiving, will renew us spiritually, physically and emotionally. We are able to keep on. Things look brighter. The clouds are lifted.

But a word of warning. This grateful heart is not a once off thing. You can’t just have a season of praise and then the rest of your life is easy and you glide through your trials. No. It is a lifetime practice of giving thanks to God. We are human and we all have a sinful nature. We are not perfect and we have to be continually working on our attitudes and our responses to different situations. Each and every trial brings it problems and causes pain, but if we focus on giving thanks IN everything, God will bring peace.

Just when you think you’ve got it, you realize you don’t. But don’t be discouraged, God is always there and He is waiting for you. He longs to hear your words of praise.

Developing a heart of gratefulness is a lifelong practice and it needs work. A continual looking to God and a dedicated love for His Word.

Study the Word. Look for the promises it gives.

Read it. Learn it. Share it. Love it. Apply it. Live it. 

John 16:33

 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace.

In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer;

 I have overcome the world.