In All Things

“Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thess. 5:18).

We probably all agree that this verse is far easier said than done. It is counterintuitive and downright hard to practice every day in every circumstance. I was listening to a recent sermon from Immanuel Church in Nashville that mentioned this quote from C.S. Lewis in Mere Christianity:

“Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of— throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself” (IV, 9).

We don’t much mind the repairs we knew we needed, but it’s hard to appreciate the other renovations. It’s particularly difficult when He tears down the little additions we’ve built ourselves. To use Jesus’ imagery from Matthew 7:24-27, we know we need to build our house on the rock, but then we may decide to add a shed hanging off one side, and a vacation cottage on the beach sand. When He comes in to rebuild, instead of being complimentary of our building efforts, He tears them all down. It would be one thing if this happened just once when we first commit our lives to Christ, but it becomes a lifelong renovation project of conforming us to the image of Christ (Rom. 8:29).

The big question is, can we give thanks even for the things we don’t much like or understand? Sometimes that’s not too hard, when we remember that God is in control and we can trust His plan for our lives. But all too often we (or at least I) start second-guessing His plan and wondering how good it can be if we have to surrender the things that we think will make us happy. It’s also easier with some parts of life than with others. I can think of one arena of my life where the sacrifice of certain relationships, although painful at the time, was and is well worth the benefit of eternal life with Christ and His family. Now I can give thanks for that renovation, but thanksgiving has not always been my first choice.

When the rich young man came running up to Jesus to ask “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus pointed to the one thing the man was unwilling to give up—his riches. It is hard to let go of temporal things for the seeming uncertainty of “treasure in heaven” (Mark 10:21). It’s interesting that the passage immediately goes on to Peter’s statement, “See, we have left everything and followed you” (v. 28). In other words, “Jesus, is it really going to be worth it in the end?” Jesus reassures the disciples that it is worth it, not just for eternity but for this life as well, and He also points out that the greatest cost for many of us is relational, not material.*

If we truly trust His plan, then giving thanks in all circumstances does become a little easier, though still a test of faith in hard times.

“Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, for His steadfast love endures forever” (Psalm 136:1ff).

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*An observation for which I am indebted to Sam Allberry.

© 2022 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture are ESV and all images copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.