So, they took away the stone. And Jesus raised His eyes toward heaven and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. I knew that You always hear Me and listen to Me.” John 11:41-42 I love the Thanksgiving season and I spend time thinking about all the things I must be thankful for. I am reminded of the first Thanksgiving feast celebrated by the fifty-three survivors of the Mayflower and ninety native American Wampanoag people who came together to celebrate the first harvest with a three-day feast and celebration. Forty of the seventy-two men and twenty- eight women who voyaged on the Mayflower were Protestant Separatists who hoped to establish a new church in the new world and have religious freedom. The harsh conditions cost nearly half of the “pilgrims” their lives, but when they brought in the first harvest, they overcame the hardships and heartaches and celebrated the blessings of God with thanksgiving. The pilgrims lived out their beliefs and followed God with all their might and strength. What a rich heritage we have as Americans, our ancestors set the example of giving thanks in everything. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 “In everything give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” It should be easy to give thanks when things are going well, but too many times we take credit for what God has given us or we just become so accustomed to being blesses we take God’s blessing and provisions for granted. The challenge is seeing the goodness of God when we are facing challenges and after we suffer loss. When November rolled around this year, I was thinking about all the ways God has blessed me and my family, and my mind went over the usual list, my relationship with God, my family, our home, the food we eat, the friends we have , living in the greatest nation in the world, and the other tangible things we have been so blessed with. Then my thoughts went another direction, and I began to think about Jesus and how He exemplified a life of gratitude and thanksgiving. Jesus gave thanks even when things looked difficult and the season, He was in was painful.
In Matthew 15, Jesus spent three days instructing the people and healing the sick and as He looked at the multitude, He had compassion on them because they were weary from “continuing” with Him for three days and they were hungry. After spending three days teaching and praying for the sick, I am sure Jesus was tired as well, but His focus was on the people around Him. The disciples had all they wanted of people, and they urged Jesus to send them home. The compassion of Jesus over came His feelings and He saw the needs of the people, and He refused to allow what He saw to determine His faith. Jesus asked His disciples “How many loaves do you have?” And they said, “Seven and a little fish.” Jesus commanded the multitude of four thousand men to sit down. Matthew 15:36-37 “And He took the seven loaves and the fish and gave thanks, broke them, and gave them to His disciples and the disciples gave to the multitude. So, they all ate and were filled, and they took up seven large baskets full of fragments that were left.” Every time Jesus fed the multitudes, He took the food He had, and He gave thanks for it and asked God to bless it. Every time there was not just enough to feed the multitude, there was always baskets full of leftovers. An attitude of thanksgiving focus on what God has provided and opens a door for God to do the miraculous in our life. As a nation, the United States of America has lived under the blessing of God, and it is so easy to take for granted the everyday ways God provides for us and protects us. Sadly, too many people just see what they do not have and forget to give thanks for what they have been given and to allow God to bless what they have. In Matthew 6:31-33 Jesus said, “Therefore do not worry saying, “What shall we eat?” Or “what shall we wear?” For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek you first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you.” Jesus showed us to be thankful for the material things we have.
Rejection is one of the most difficult emotions to overcome and it is hard to find anything to be thankful for when people do not accept us or appreciate what we have to offer. Jesus understood what it felt like to be rejected, but He also understood the real root of their rejection. During rejection, Jesus found a way to give God thanks. In Luke 10 Jesus addressed several cities that would not repent after hearing the message of the gospel. Jesus said, “He who hears you hears Me, and he who rejects you rejects Me, and he who rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me.” Jesus understood man’s “wisdom” would cause him or her to reject the truth of the gospel and reject Him. Isaiah 47:10 “your wisdom and knowledge have led you astray.” In the middle of rejection, Jesus was filled with the joy of the Holy Spirit and said, “O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, thank you for hiding these things from those who think themselves wise and clever and for revealing them to the childlike. Yes, Father, it pleased you to do it this way.” Even in the middle of rejection, Jesus was thankful. Jesus understood that if we do not come like children, we will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
When Lazarus died and his sister Martha rushed to meet Jesus and she told him accusingly “Lord if You had been here, my brother would not have died.” John 11:21, Jesus did not allow those words of accusation to steal his thankful spirit. Instead, Jesus told Martha to take Him to where they had laid Lazarus and to have the stone in front of the tomb removed. Jesus prayed in verse 41 “And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard Me.” Jesus knew God always heard and answered His prayer and He was thankful for the privilege to talk to God knowing God was listening and would answer. God has invited us into the same open relationship with Him that He had with Jesus. We are confident that when we pray, He hears us, and He will give us what we ask. Jesus promised in John14:13-14 “Whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, so that the Father may be glorified n the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.”1 John 5:14-15 “This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests for which we have asked Him.” Thank God for answered prayers and the ability to ask God to meet our needs. Knowing God hears me, goes beyond asking for my needs to be met. What comfort it brings to know God hears you! Have you ever felt like the people who are around you do not hear what you ae trying to say? Or they do not understand where you are coming from? God created you to be unique and He understands everything about you. He knows what you are thinking and feeling and the reason you are reacting before you even understand. Jeremiah 29:12-13 “ Then you will call upon <Me and come and pray to Me and I will hear you. You will seek Me and find ME when you seek me with all your heart.” We should be like Jesus and give thanks that He hears us and answers our prayers. Psalm 145:18 “The Lord is near to all who call upon Him.” Thank God, He hears us, answers our prayers, understands us and is always with us.
During the last supper, Matthew 26:27 “Then He took the cup, and when He had given thanks, He gave it to them saying, “Drink from this cup, all of you, for this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” Jesus gave thanks for the sacrifice He was going to make for our sins. This is the same cup, that Jesus asked God to remover from Him in the garden while sweating great droplets of blood. “Who for the joy set before Him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” It is not always easy to endure the process and to set our sights on what God is doing instead of how things look at the present. When we are facing delays and setbacks, if we can be thankful, we will walk through the process quicker.
Jesus had an attitude of gratitude and frequently in scripture, He expressed His thanksgiving even in demanding situations. Thanksgiving was so important to Him that after he healed the nine lepers, and only one came back and said thank you, Jesus asked “Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?” Sadly, too often in the Body of Christ, we are given so many blessings that we come to expect them, and we do not give thanks to God. I have been asking God to show me His glory. What if our thanksgiving brings in His glory? Our thanksgiving is a key into the presence of God. Psalm 100:4 “Enter into His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him and bless His name. For the Lord is good, His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations.“ Take time this Thanksgiving to “Have the mind of Christ,” and to be thankful in every situation. Happy Thanksgiving.