GIVING THANKS INSPITE OF DIFFICULTIES

(1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)

New International Version

16 Rejoice always, 17 pray continually, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

There is no question that many of God’s commands in the Bible are beyond our ability to obey, and some are hard to comprehend. There are Biblical commands which are not only difficult but might be regarded as impossible. For instance, the Lord in Matthew 5:48: commanded us to be perfect ( “Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”) No human being could possibly claim to have achieved this kind of perfection. In all of history, no one except Jesus has ever come close to keeping that command! The basic command “To love God and to love others” is hard or even impossible to perfectly obey. We may love God sometimes, often times or occasionally but not perfectly all the time. We may love others sometimes, today, or perhaps for a week, but not perfectly all the time.

Our text gives us three difficult if not  impossible commands (1 Thess. 5:16-18): “Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

If Paul had only said, “Rejoice a lot, pray often, and try to be thankful,” Maybe we could say, “Okay, maybe that’s doable!” But no one can honestly say, “I rejoice always, pray without ceasing, and in everything I give thanks!”

So what do we do with these impossible commands? Curiously, John Stott the eminent Bible Commentator and Author (The Message of 1 & 2 Thessalonians [IVP Academic], p. 124) gives the opinion that these commands are not directed to us individually, but rather to the church corporately in public worship. This a valid and constructive interpretation, however, there are other biblical commands along the same line directed to us personally. And while our corporate worship should always be filled with joy, prayer, and thanksgiving, we will not be able do these together in worship if we haven’t been doing them individually.   

It’s interesting that Paul did not give us any explanation what these commands mean and how we can obey them. So other portions of Scriptures might be able to shed light in our understanding of what these commands mean and how we can develop the attitude and conduct that will help us move toward joyfulness, prayerfulness and thankfulness, even if in this life we will not be able to perfectly obey these commands.  Paul’s idea is easily stated:

God commands us to rejoice always, pray without ceasing, and give thanks in everything. (1 Thess. 5:18), “for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” So it is clear that God’s will for us, refers to the three commands, namely: rejoicing always, praying without ceasing, and giving thanks in everything. I believe these commands should go together. They are always God’s will for us in Christ Jesus.

That last phrase gives us a clue how we can be empowered to obey these commands: We must be “in Christ Jesus.” Without being in union with Christ, through His indwelling Holy Spirit, we could never come close to obeying these commands. We are placed into union with Christ the moment that we trust Him as Savior and Lord.  We need to be born again.

So to obey these impossible commands, we need to experience the new birth in Christ. As we learn to abide in Him and trust in Him to work through us, the process of becoming  conformed to His image, begins. We cannot do these on our own ability or capacity.

1. God commands us to rejoice always. What does this mean?

Does “rejoicing always” mean that you always go around with a smile on your face, an upbeat expression even if things are going bad for you? Does rejoicing always mean putting on a poker face and exclaiming, “Praise the Lord, I’m doing fine!” even if conditions are sad or terrible and times are hard for you? Do you need to put on a spiritual front?

We have to be very careful with the teaching that tells us to force positive thoughts, make positive confession and speak positive commands to drive away all our troubles. This is a dangerous, unbiblical teaching.

If “rejoicing always” means always being upbeat and never feeling sadness, then we have a problem. Our Lord is reported to have ”wept.” As He faced the cross, Jesus prayed “with loud crying and tears” (Heb. 5:7). In 2 Corinthians 6:10, Paul described himself, “as sorrowful yet always rejoicing.” In Romans 12:15, he tells us, “Rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep.” Paul did not say, “Stop weeping and start laughing!”

So “rejoice always” does not mean, “Deny your feelings, put on a happy face, and never feel sad.”

So, what does Paul mean when he commands, “Rejoice always”? It is important to put this exhortation in context. Paul wrote this to the new believers in Thessalonica, who were suffering persecution because of their faith (1 Thess. 3:3-4).

So, given their difficult circumstances, this command to rejoice always has to be viewed not primarily as a matter of feelings, but rather as a matter of confident faith. When we are in difficult trials or if people have mistreat and persecute us because of our faith, we have a choice: either we can dwell in our hardships and lapse into self-pity, or, we can set our minds on the things above, on the promises of our Lord, and be confident that our lives are in His hands.

As Paul commanded the Philippians (4:4), “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!” That little phrase, “in the Lord” is the key. Since we are “in the Lord” through faith in Christ, we can always rejoice “in the Lord.”

So “rejoicing always” is a conscious attitude of contentment, hope, and happiness that comes from deliberately focusing on Christ and the eternal treasures that we have received freely from Him.

So to rejoice always means that we must make this deliberate choice to focus on the Lord and the unfathomable riches that we have in Him, not on our difficult circumstances. And this joy shines the brightest in dark situations. If we do all things with joy in the Lord rather than grumbling or complaining, we will stand out as lights in this dark world (Phil. 2:14-15).

2. God commands us to pray without ceasing.

What does this mean?

Does this mean that we must pray every waking moment? Obviously, not, because neither Paul nor the Lord Jesus did that. To pray without ceasing means to develop a constant, consistent prayerful attitude.

Our prayers should be frequent and persistent. Knock and it shall be opened unto you, seek and you will find, ask and it will be given unto you. Like the widow who kept bothering the unjust judge (Luke 18:1-8), we keep coming back until we obtain what we we’re asking for.

We develop a habit of praying without ceasing as a lifelong process. In other words, we need to recognize our need to depend on the Lord in every situation. Prayer is the language of trusting in the Lord. Praying is a matter of practice which one can develop into a habit. By spending  time in God’s word and prayer each morning, we will be surprised to discover that if we miss one day, our day would be different.

3. Finally, the major focus of our theme for this month is Thanksgiving. God commands us to give thanks in everything.

What does this mean?

This means that in every situation, good or bad, pleasant or unpleasant, we are to give thanks to our Sovereign God and Savior. It is hard to be thankful when we are in a bind. But the good Apostle Paul is emphatic in Ephesians 5:20, saying, “always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father.” Giving thanks in every situation does not mean that we must be fatalistic with every situation or resigned to accept matters, but rather hopeful that our great and powerful God is in control and has the power to change everything according to His divine will and purposes, regardless of the situation. We give thanks because we have the promise of the Great and Sovereign God to work all things for good.

Also, we don’t need to feel thankful before we give thanks. When God takes us through hard trials, we don’t feel thankful. But by faith we can trust God to be in control and He knows what is going on in our lives; we can trust God to work out everything for good to those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. So, like rejoicing always, giving thanks in everything is often a choice to trust God  in everything. It is an attitude of complete trust, a habit of thankfulness, regardless of the condition.

In the life of the believer who loves God, in the good, in the bad, in the ugly, in the joyful, the painful, the disappointing, God works all of these together for “good”. And “good” as he defines it. Which has to be a whole lot better than any good we can create.

How can we develop a habit of thankfulness to God in every situation?

First, and most importantly, we need to deepen our understanding of God’s sovereignty and goodness. God is Sovereign. God is in control of everything and nothing escapes his\

attention. And if God is in control we need to trust Him to do what is in accordance with His sovereign will. We are promised that He will work out all things (even the bad things) for good to those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. We see this in the life of Joseph. He experienced the ups and downs, mostly downs, in his life until he understood God’s plan for him and for his people. So he said to his evil brothers, (Gen. 50:20): “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive.” Joseph saw God both as sovereign and good. Submitting to the sovereign goodness of God in every situation is the key to a thankful heart.

Second, thankfulness will be our habit when we trust in God. If we are trusting God, we are thankful. If we are not thankful, then we are not trusting God. This is shown in the life of the Israelites. God delivered them from slavery in Egypt. God miraculously brought them through the Red Sea and then closed the water on top of the pursuing Egyptian army. We might think that by this time, they could thankfully trust in God. But we read (Exod. 15:22-24) that in the wilderness, they found no water, and grumbled at Moses, which was actually grumbling at God. They didn’t trust that the God who had powerfully saved them from slavery could provide water in the desert. Grumbling, is a sin of not trusting God. If we do not trust God, we are not thankful. Developing a habit of trusting God, especially in trials, will lead to thankfulness in all circumstances.

So we give thanks in spite of …