by Sharon Jadrnicek

Remember the children’s dinner prayer? “Thank you for the world so sweet; thank you for the food we eat; thank you for the birds that sing; thank you, God, for everything” (Rutter Leatham).

Children have such a simplistic view of the world that surrounds them. With plenty of food on the table and the safety of a loving environment, they proclaim with wholehearted enthusiasm their thanks to God. Sometimes, however, I get stuck on that last line, “Thank you, God, for everything. “Everything” – that’s a big word. Many passages in the Bible give clear instruction to the Body of Christ to “Give thanks to God for everything.”

We live in a world in which advertising has been perfected to an art. The advertiser’s job is to make us think that material goods are directly equated to our happiness. Recent studies show that the average American may see more than 3,000 advertisements a day. These can be television and radio commercials, newspaper, magazine and flyer print ads, billboards, and logos on clothing to name a few. Companies spend an estimated 200 billion dollars a year trying to create the perfect image of what you can be with their product. If we accept the illusion, the purchases will often follow. Advertisers do far more than influence our taste. They manipulate our desires so that their products will become our closest friends.

As the American public is bombarded with a constant flow of bigger and better “can’t live withouts,” the Christian wrestles with the question: How can I be thankful with God’s provision in the midst of a feeding frenzy of competitive lifestyles created by an advertiser’s concept of the “good life”? In short, God’s Word tells us to be thankful for what we have while the world tells us we don’t have enough.

A recent interview caught my attention. Several years ago a woman lost her young son and husband in an airplane crash. She and the pilot were the soul survivors. In the ensuing months she recovered from multiple burns and broken bones, but the hardest battle took years, dealing with the “why” question: How could this tragedy happen to her? The interviewer asked the question we were all waiting to be answered, “How did you find healing from your anger and despair?” The young woman responded with confidence, “I began to focus on what I have, not what I don’t have.” Instead o f shaking her fist at God for her misfortune, she began to thank Him for the wonderful gift He had given her. “God gave me the gift of beautiful memories of a beautiful child, a great marriage, and a wonderful life. For that I’m grateful. He owes me nothing.” In fact, she confessed to a certain amount of arrogance in thinking that because she was a follower of Christ, her life should be perfect, that these tragedies should only happen to other people. Healing came when her perspective changed, when she started to focus on what she had instead of what she didn’t have.

That would be an advertiser’s nightmare, wouldn’t it? What if all Christians began to see life as a wonderful adventure filled with blessings instead of the deficiencies? Would the desire for a shiny new car pale when compared to the three beautiful children sitting next to them in church? Would that dream vacation fade into the background when compared to a night of popcorn and family laughter around a board game or a good old fashion water fight on a hot day?

The fact is that no one has a “perfect” life. We are imperfect people living imperfect lives. How we view life and our part in it defines us, and it all boils down to perspective. Paul told the Church in Rome that when we have our hearts set on natural desires we’re being led by the flesh. But the Spirit focuses on the wishes and desires of the One who made us and died that we might have life everlasting. My flesh demands to be ruled by my emotions, but my spirit longs to be ruled by my faith. A thankful heart is born out of a higher calling or comes from a vision of a loftier purpose and understanding of the world around us. The flesh begs for constant affirmation, but the spirit longs to be encased in God. Thankful hearts see God’s provision and beauty in everything around them. They experience God as a provider, healer, the source of wisdom and righteousness, and salvation. David found his true riches in God. This caused him to declare with delight, “Blessed be the Lord, who daily loads us with benefits, even the God of our salvation”(Psalm 68:19). What is your perspective?

Now some might see this as the power of positive thinking or the ability to see the glass half full instead of half empty. Positive thinking proponents boast that believing in yourself generates power. They teach followers that happy thoughts can remake them. If one doesn’t believe in defeat, happiness and a peaceful mind will follow. In reality, unlike the little train that faced adversity by repeating “I think I can, I think I can” as it puffed its way up the mountain, faith is not something you can conjure up just by thinking happy thoughts. Faith is a belief in or confident attitude toward God, involving commitment to His will for one’s life. Faith has to do with reliance and trust. It comes from more than a disciplined mind that looks only at the positive; it comes from an understanding of God’s goodness and sovereignty.

One of the best examples of genuine faith is presented in the story of David and Bathsheba. When David’s sin with Bathsheba was revealed through the prophet Nathan, David fell on his face before God and confessed his sin. God, in his mercy, told David that his life would be spared; however, the child that was conceived from that sinful union would die. After the child was struck with a terminal illness, David went into a time of prayer and fasting on his behalf. With much travail, for seven days he would not eat but lay flat on his face in the dirt before God. On the seventh day the child died.

The servants were hesitant to tell David the sad news. They feared that David would harm himself in his disappointment. How could they tell David that his prayers did not work, that God had let him down and the thing that he sought so desperately was taken from him? When David perceived what had happened, he ar ose and washed himself, changed his clothing and went into the house of the Lord and worshiped God; he offered thanksgiving and praise! After seven days of anguish and pain, David ate and refreshed himself and then went into Bathsheba to comfort her. David had lived and fought many battles in which his spiritual mettle was tested. In the face of every adversity, David had developed a pattern of total submission to God’s will. From a small boy tending sheep to the king of God’s chosen, David never faltered in his integrity and determination to submit to God’s sovereignty. God, in turn, called David the apple of His eye. Trust, and a committed reliance on God’s perfect way, caused David’s heart to not falter in its gratitude and obeisance. David and Bathsheba had another child together. His name was Solomon, the richest and wisest king in the entire world.

When Christ died on the cross, He gave us every good thing. II Corinthians 9:15 calls it the “indescribable gift.” “The indescribable gift is the grace of God in Jesus Christ” (Acts 17:28 NIV). The Christian privilege is to find reason for gratitude in all things because the grace of Christ can be found in all things.

Recently, I found out that a friend’s cancer which had been in remission for several years was now back with a vengeance. The prognosis did not look good. I travailed for her healing in prayer. I could feel her pain and fear while she struggled to face this intimidating giant in her life. But Jesus had another direction for my prayers. So clearly the Spirit spoke to my heart, “Pray for My grace.” Instantly, I understood what the Spirit was saying. My prayers took on a more positive direction as I covered every area of her life with God’s Grace. Relief from pain, the council of wise doctors, shelter from fear of the future, a bubble of peace to envelop her, the joy of God’s revelation, and the gift of faith for her family were all part of the grace I prayed on her once I started focusing on God’s unmerited favor in her life. I felt a sense of gratitude for the opportunity to minister to her in the Spirit.

James 1:2 tells us to, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith [trust and submission to God’s will] develops perseverance [patience]. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything” (NIV). Now, I don’t suppose we’re all ready to jump up and do a victory dance because we have problems, but both James and David are telling us that we can put our future and circumstances in the hands of a loving God. God extends His grace to the believer which is returned back to Him in gratitude.

The power of the cross has a reciprocal quality to the believer. “Come now, let us reason together,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool. If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land” (Isaiah 1:18-19 NIV). This is a call to repentance and reformation on the part of mankind. God calls His greatest creation, the love that took Him to the cross, to conform to His will and intent for its life. The ultimate atonement for man is the blood of Christ and the ultimate answer to that atonement is submission. Thankfulness is a sign of your participation into His plan as God fills the universe with singleness of purpose. In Psalms 50:23 God declares, “He who sacrifices thank offerings honors me, and he prepares the way so that I may show him the salvation of God” (NIV). Through thanksgiving we put God in a position above all problems and adversities, wants and needs. We willingly put the process of our salvation in His hands.

Isaiah 49:15 reveals Christ’s commitment to His Church: “Can a woman forget her nursing child, And not have compassion on the son of her womb? Surely they may forget, Yet I will not forget you. See, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands” (NKJV). God was making a comparison of the beauty of His sacrifice on Calvary to the one human nature that would speak of the bond we have been given through this selfless act. When a woman is nursing a child, the bond that is created is not only an emotional one but physical in the sense that all of her focus is centered on that child. Her commitment to the well-being of the child through the nourishment he receives keeps him close to her side at all times. But a more powerful compelling force is at work within the mother’s body. Everything within her is centered on the production of milk. This miracle of nature happens independently of her desire towards her child. A baby’s cry or a time of day will automatically trigger the production of life-giving nourishment. And so when God compares the nail scars in His hand to the nursing mother, He’s saying that even with the mother’s whole body and mind synchronized to the needs of her child, it would be more likely for her to forget her child than Christ to forget the redemptive price He paid for eternal oneness.

A well-known speaker started off his seminar by holding up a $20 bill. In the room of 200, he asked, “Who would would like this $20 bill?” Hands started going up. He said, “I am going to give this $20 to one of you, but first let me do this.” He proceeded to crumple up the $20 dollar bill. He then asked, “Who still wants it?” Still the hands were up in the air. Well, he replied, “What if I do this?” And he dropped it on the ground and started to grind it into the floor with his shoe. He picked it up, now crumpled and dirty. “Now, who still wants it?” Still the hands went into the air. “My friends, we have all learned a very valuable lesson. No matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it because it did not decrease in value. It was still worth $20.”

Many times in our lives, we are dropped, crumpled, and ground into the dirt by the decisions we make and the circumstances that come our way. We feel as though we are worthless. But no matter what has happened or what will happen, we will never lose our value. Dirty or clean, crumpled or finely creased, we are still priceless to God.

Now that is something to be thankful for!