Thanksgiving can often be limited to a Sunday service in a month, or following on from the success of something or some event which is good. We should thank God for that. However, the Word of God presents thanksgiving as a lifestyle. Thanksgiving is not limited to what happens in our life or what doesn’t happen in our life. It’s not event-dependent, it’s not mood-dependent, it’s not emotional-dependent.
1 Thessalonians 5:18 “Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
It doesn’t say give thanks only on a Sunday morning or during a prayer segment, or when you feel like it. It says in all circumstances. So, whether you’re in the mood or not, whether things are going well for you or not. It is not dependent on circumstance, it is God’s will – His desire for us to thank Him in every circumstance.
You will notice that the scripture does not say give thanks FOR all circumstances, it says give thanks IN all circumstances. This means we are not giving thanks to Him, advocating that He is the reason why things go wrong in our lives. God is a good God, and we know that He doesn’t do things that will hurt us nor does He bring sickness or pain to teach us something. He is not that kind of God. He’s good and the giver of good and perfect gifts. When it says give thanks in all circumstances, it’s saying you recognize the goodness of God above what we go through.
You can sometimes be going through some challenging situations and it seems like everything is against you. You can’t really see a way out. But in the midst of that, 1 Thessalonians 5:18 says you will honor and you will exalt the goodness of God above that.
Why do we thank God?
Are we just thanking Him to receive something? No, it goes beyond that. We will receive because He’s good and He’s faithful but that’s not the primary reason why we do that as believers.
- Changes our perspective – It keeps our focus in the right place.
Mark 6:41 And when he had taken the five loaves and the two fishes, he looked up to heaven, and blessed, and brake the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before them; and the two fishes divided he among them all.
Jesus wanted to feed the multitude of people with bread and fish. It wasn’t enough, physically speaking but the bread was brought before Jesus, and the scripture tells us that he looked up to heaven and he gave thanks. That phrase “looked up”; the root word says to recover sight. At that very moment, he looked beyond the limitation of what was physically present, and he looked to God, the God of abundance and multiplication. And it says, he recovered sight. When we give thanks, it keeps our focus and our perspective in Christ. We start to see the abundance in our situations. We start to see the change in our situations. We give thanks to keep our focus on Christ. You want the right perspective, the God perspective, in every situation.
- We can trust in Him and enjoy His rest – In saying that we should give thanks in all circumstances 1 Thessalonians 5:18, it is not a passive attitude. It is that we are focusing on God who sees all and knows all. He knows our frame. He knows what we’re going through and exalting Him. There’s something so much better when we trust in God and believe that He’s able to sort and settle us more than we could ever do on our own. It takes the weight off us having to work things out in our own strength and trust in Him. And that’s why we give thanks. We give thanks to align ourselves with Him and His perspective.
- Its an insulator of God’s peace in our hearts – Philippians 4:6-7 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. In thanksgiving, we transfer the peace of God that is already in our spirit through the wall of our hearts and fill our hearts. We then find that the situation that seemed so heavy is now replaced with peace. It is beyond human understanding. It may come with instructions but its backed with His peace in us.
- It is freedom – in thanksgiving, it is freedom when you stop carrying weights on our own understanding and trust God to work out our circumstances much better than we ever could on our own.
Going further in thanksgiving, there are two scriptures that speak of overflowing or abundant thanksgiving.
- Overflowing thanksgiving through growth – Colossians 2:6-7 So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. As we walk with God and grow in knowing Him, we discover that God is so rich and His richness within us. That would translate to no longer requesting for things. You move away from that to thankfulness. God has provided everything you need.
Ephesians 1:3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.
2 Peter 1:3 His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.
God has provided everything you could ever need, God has provided richly. One of the signs of maturity in Christ is an outflow of the things we say or do. Growth can be measured by the overflow of thanksgiving in our words and our deeds.
Colossians 3:17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
If we are to take a lot of things we say or do, does it honour God or is much time spent in complaining and mumbling? This is one way to assess our maturity in Christ. When we are growing and maturing in Him, we bless the things we have.
- Overflowing thanksgiving through Giving – 2 Corinthians 9: 10 – 15 Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of the Lord’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, others will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else. And in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you. Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!
When we talk about money, there is most of the time a defense against it but this passage makes us understand that giving to the Lord’s people has many expressions of thanksgiving to God. In work and receiving money, it is not for yourself alone. It is so that you have to give to the body of Christ. We are to excel in this grace because it has promise beyond this life. We will not see the totality of it in this life.
The Macedonian churches understood the overflowing expressions of thanksgiving to God.
2 Corinthians 8:1-2 And now, brothers and sisters, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. In the midst of a very severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity.
Overflowing in thanksgiving through giving understands that God provides bread for food and seed to sow. 2 Corinthians 9:10 Your position is in eagerly seeking ways to serve and give to the body of Christ.
In conclusion, we are to pay attention to these two areas, to grow in relationship with God and excel in giving which translates to overflowing in thanksgiving to God.
