In the apostle Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians there is a verse, in the fifth chapter, that often bewilders people. Paul says there, “Give thanks in all circumstances for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” If only dear brother Paul had said, “Give thanks for the good things that you’ve got!” That just makes so much sense… and it’s easy to do, isn’t it? At a pinch we could perhaps manage to give thanks in most circumstances. But to do that in all… all circumstances…? What on earth was the apostle Paul thinking of?
I could make quite a list of recent circumstances where many have struggled with an attitude of gratitude. Let’s begin with country people and the years of drought they have gone through. How easy was it in those circumstances to give thanks? And then came the bushfires and for many Aussies what a struggle it has been to keep being thankful through the fires. Then the rains came and brought some storms with hail damage and floods. Again we could ask the Apostle Paul how easy he would find it to give thanks in those circumstances. And now we’re in the corona virus pandemic with the massive social upheaval that it has created. Can we really express our gratitude in all the chaos and uncertainty of these present days? Give thanks in all circumstances? Yeah, right Paul!
I was thinking of that verse a great deal this past week as I watched so much of our society shut down in the face of the corona virus threat. Is thankfulness even possible today? As I reflected on that, two scenarios popped into my mind. One was a story I read. The other was something a relative once said to me.
The story concerns a teenager who was a keen athlete. At 16 she developed bone cancer in her leg. Her father, a clergyman, was devastated when medical specialists planned to remove her leg to save her life. When the time came for the surgery the pastor-father asked the doctors to do one last scan. He told them that his church and many all around the country had been praying for a miracle. He was convinced that God would heal his daughter. That was part of his belief system. The doctor came out and said, “Sorry! Nothing had changed; we had to take the leg.” The pastor-dad was devastated. At that point he had no theology of suffering. Later his daughter said to him:” I’d rather lose the other leg than lose what I learned about God through that trial.” Here was a young lass who had learned to be thankful in difficult circumstances.
The other event that came back to my mind was the story of a relative who had a stroke on the basket-ball court. If I remember rightly he was around forty at the time; a self-employed businessman and a dad of teenage kids. He underwent many years of rehabilitation. It must have been at least five years later when I caught up with him – not long after he had commenced a new job. I’ll never forget his first words to me, “John, that stroke was the best thing that ever happened to me.” He must have seen my jaw drop because he hastened to explain: “I was totally preoccupied with my business and living the good life. My marriage relationship was not really what it should have been and I was drifting away from God and the church. This crisis helped me sort out a lot of things in my life and I’m a better person for it.” Here too was someone who had learned to be thankful in all circumstances.
Our problem is that many of us have no philosophy of suffering. We’ve never considered that God can take the trials and hardships of our life and turn them into positives. Here it’s important to notice that Paul does not just admonish us to give thanks in all circumstances, full stop. No! He adds that this is God’s will for us in Christ Jesus. If we leave God out of the picture then it makes little sense to give thanks in all circumstances. But when we put our most difficult circumstances into the perspective of being held in the hands of a loving Saviour who gave his life for our eternal salvation… then we know that He can turn all things to our profit – even the corona virus.
John Westendorp