Hal Chaffee Ministries

In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. – 1 Thessalonians 5:18

The Bible here teaches us to give thanks in all things. This, of course, includes things both good and bad. The intent of the author is that his readers learn to develop a lifestyle of thanksgiving no matter what the circumstances might be. When things are good, we thank God; when things seem bad, we thank God. When we are full and healthy and abundantly supplied for, we thank God. When we are hungry and sick and broke, we also thank God. We thank God because we know that we have a gracious and loving heavenly Father who cares for us deeply. And since this is true, we can thank God even in the most difficult situations because we know that ‘He works all things together for good to those who love God and, to those who are the called according to His purpose’ (Romans 8:28).

A thankful person is a pleasant person. I don’t think God likes being around an ungrateful person any more than we like to. Ungrateful or complaining people are unpleasant. Who likes to be around an ungrateful child? Or who likes the company of a complaining spouse? The Bible says that it’s better to dwell on the corner of the rooftop than to live with a nagging woman (Pro 25:24). 

Unfortunately, there are many complainers in the world, unthankful people. Many times, these same people are among the most blessed on earth. They live in extreme comfort, never lacking food, nor entertainment, nor shelter. They’ve been given free education. They’ve been raised in the most prosperous country on earth. They have every opportunity to make a success of their lives, yet they are ungrateful. They cry about rights as if they are entitled to whatever current thing that they want. ‘We have a right to free healthcare, a right to abortion, a right to a certain income, a right to a house, a right for free higher education,’ and so on.

The Bible said that these types of people would wax worse in these last days:

But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God… 2 Timothy 3:1-4

But it is not as though they are new to our time. The Bible is replete with examples of unthankful complainers, especially among the wanderings of the people of Israel in the desert:

Then they despised the pleasant land; They did not believe His word, But complained in their tents, And did not heed the voice of the LORD. – Psa 106:24-25

A stark example of this is in Numbers chapter 21, when the people of Israel began to be discouraged in their wanderings. They should have learned their lesson from times past, when they complained and were almost completely destroyed, but they did not. Despite God’s goodness in bringing them out of the slavery of Egypt, crossing them through the Red Sea, delivering them from their many enemies, feeding them supernaturally and providing water out of a Rock, they still found reason to complain:

Then they journeyed from Mount Hor by the Way of the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; and the soul of the people became very discouraged on the way. And the people spoke against God and against Moses: “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and our soul loathes this worthless bread.” So the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and many of the people of Israel died.- Numbers 21:4-6

The Bible says they were discouraged. Some translations say ‘impatient.’ I think both are right. They were discouraged because they were impatient. “Why did you bring us out of Egypt to die in the wilderness?” 

Why? Why? It was because they prayed! They had asked God to do just that! He answered their prayer with a great deliverance. And He didn’t bring them out so they might die, He brought them out so that that they could LIVE, and live abundantly in the fruitful land that He had prepared for them. If they had exercised even an ounce of trust and faith, they would have occupied the land long ago. But now what do they say? “We loath this worthless bread”? It is astonishing that God let any of them live another moment.

But let’s take up an opposite example. Consider Daniel, who could also have been discouraged. He was a captive in Babylon, waiting upon God’s promise to bring his people back to the land of Israel. I’m sure he was also tempted to exercise impatience, but he did not. Instead, he made it a practice to be thankful every day–three times a day to be exact. 

Daniel served the Lord faithfully in Babylon for many years. And although he had never done anyone wrong, his jealous colleagues wanted him dead. They hashed a plan to be rid of him, finding the only way to do it would be by putting a wedge between the law and his religion. Daniel could have been discouraged. He could have complained to God how unfair this all was. He didn’t do anything wrong. It wasn’t his fault that he was in Babylon in the first place. He had a promising future as a bright young man in Israel, but because of the rebellion of his people, he now was a eunuch in a foreign land. To top it all off, he was soon to be lion lunch–just for simply praying. What did he do?

Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went home. And in his upper room, with his windows open toward Jerusalem, he knelt down on his knees three times that day, and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as was his custom since early days. – Daniel 5:10

What an example for us! If Daniel could pray and give thanks, having an unbreakable attitude of thanksgiving, even in the darkest of situations, how much more can we also? Daniel truly understood the spirit of the text: ‘Give thanks in all things.’ Getting thrown in the lions’ den was definitely a ‘thing.’ In it he gave thanks. 

What was the result? We see that the complainers got bitten, but the thankful one did not. So we see that complaining only makes the situation worse.

Are you getting bit in life? Perhaps it is because you have not yet fostered a lifestyle of thanksgiving.

Application

Thanksgiving must become a lifestyle for us. We must do it every day, several times a day. If Daniel was able to do it three times per day, we, as Holy Spirit-filled, New Covenant Christians, should do it just as much, if not more. We don’t have to be in our prayer closets to do it. We can be thankful all throughout the day, muttering prayers of thanksgiving under our breath. We can learn to do it when things are bad. It should be our default utterance. Instead of cursing or bitter words or complaining, we say, “Thank you, Lord.” Even if you cannot think in the moment of difficulty what to thank Him for, that’s ok. Just thank Him anyway, for you know that He has always been faithful, and He will always be.

The scripture addresses clearly the way we should speak: No ‘corrupt word is to proceed out of your mouth… nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks‘ (Ephesians 4:29, 5:4). We are to offer God continually the sacrifice of praise, describing what that is: ‘the fruit of our lips giving thanks to His name’ (Hebrews 13:15).

Can you do that? You surely can. You may have to make some serious adjustments in your life. You may have to repent like the people of Israel did after being bitten by snakes. You may have to put a guard on your mouth, not letting any word escape before you have been able to carefully vet it through the word of God. But you can do it, for God’s commands are also His empowerment. 

The scripture does not say that this is an optional exercise. It says to us all: ‘In all things give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.’ We have no doubt what the will of God is in this matter. It could not be more plain. It is God’s will for us all to have a lifestyle of thanksgiving. We must do it. 

A Warning.

I must give a bit of warning to those who are not reading carefully to do what the word of God commands. Remember that it is the unthankful who characterize the last days. There are many who will try to persuade you that grumbling and complaining is quite the virtue, with anger being the most virtuous of all. They will point to successes that they have achieved with these types of attitudes. They will say that if you are not angry and bitter then you aren’t paying attention. Many will be sucked into their ways. However, they couldn’t be more wrong. It is the thankful who are paying the most attention. We are simply looking beyond what they are looking at. We are looking to the promise, not the problem. We are looking to the true, and not the temporary. We are looking to the eternal, and not the earthly. This is why we can be thankful.

The unthankful risk becoming hardened and blinded. Romans chapter one tells us that it is the ones who fail to glorify God and to be thankful whose ‘foolish hearts were darkened…’ (Romans 1:21). O, how I have seen this played out! When God’s people allow the poison of bitterness in their lives rather than the power of thanksgiving, they begin to sink into darkness. Some even sink even beyond remedy.

Conclusion

‘But we are confident of better things concerning you, things that accompany salvation.’ It is the saved that have eternal reason to be thankful. We, of all people, should be the most thankful, for we have been blessed beyond every measure. How great a salvation has been purchased for us with such precious blood! Nothing, whether good or bad, is worthy to even be compared with the good things God has prepared for us, His people. If God prepared a promised land for those who complained through the wilderness, how much more has He a greater promised land for us, His saints, Whom He purchased with His own blood, a special people He has reserved for Himself?

Daniel was thankful because of the promise of a better future. He knew that whether he was eaten up by lions or not, God held him in His hand. He was like Paul, who said, “To live is Christ, and to die is gain.” It is a win-win situation for every believer. If we live, we live for Christ, enduring hardship like a good soldier. If we die, we die for Christ, and get to be with Christ, which is far better. So if we live or die, we are Christ’s. How can we not be thankful?

We should all now determine in our hearts to always be thankful, as the Bible teaches, in all things. In this way, we will both please God and brighten the world for ourselves and those around us.