Hi! Remember me?… that girl who used to blog every two to three weeks?
Well this is me….
… not blogging.
Between setting up home, painting, homeschooling, leading worship, painting, mentoring, vacationing, and painting – not to mention the usual duties of cooking, cleaning, and laundry – oh and did I mention painting?… things have been a little busy around here.
What this means is I’ve no shortage of blog posts whirling in my head but a severe shortage of time to write them!
But as Thanksgiving draws near, and especially in the wake of the church shooting in Texas, my heart finds reason to shove other things aside for the sake of writing.
I pause and look around.
So many blessings. Not things per se, but people…places… and privileges.
It’s easy to give thanks for my husband, whose abilities to fix anything, do anything, and understand everything are an immeasurable blessing to our family.
It’s easy to give thanks for each one of our children; their different gifts and personalities bring such precious delight into every single day.
It’s easy to give thanks for family, friends, and neighbors because their demonstrations of love, faith, and kindness make life more rich and beautiful than it would be alone.
I can’t help but give thanks for the privilege of living in Durango, Colorado where the mountains sing God’s praises and rivers whisper peace.
I’m grateful for good food – every day – three times a day. And for clothes – too many – filling laundry baskets and closets. For a warm house and a cozy fireplace. For sunsets and lightening storms. For books, games, toys, and crafts. For bikes, skis, and a travel trailer. For parks and trails. For our health. For steady income.
It’s easy to give thanks for all of this… in these circumstances. But the well of gratitude must go deeper.
Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.
1 Thessalonians 5:18 NLT
Be thankful. Got it.
Oh, in ALL circumstances? Well that’s a whole other level…
My story is no different than yours: there’s been pain. To varying degrees we’ve all suffered emotionally, physically, or mentally. We’ve all been hurt. We’ve all been abandoned, betrayed, neglected… misjudged and accused, taken advantage of or abused. We’ve all known disappointment, even despair, in the wake of loss. And it seems too lofty a platitude to give thanks in these circumstances…
…Until we peer into the life of One whose suffering goes infinitely beyond ours…
“He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;…he was despised…” Isaiah 53:3
Jesus.
We’re most familiar with the physical sufferings of Jesus. But remember that He also knew the heartache of betrayal, the sting of rejection, the anguish of false accusation and condemnation. He grieved the loss of loved ones. He was angered by the hypocrisy of the religious. He lived amidst the injustice of the Roman Empire. He is indeed the perfect model of what it means to give thanks in ALL circumstances.
So how did Jesus demonstrate thankfulness in suffering?
1. Jesus looked beyond Himself.
Jesus sat down to eat his last meal with His disciples. He knew. He knew exactly. Everything He’d lived for – everything He’d taught the people, demonstrated, and revealed – would come to completion in that one horrific, sleepless night. And what did He do? He celebrated the Passover and gave thanks. But notice the words Jesus chose as He broke the bread and passed the wine, “This is my body given for you…this is the new covenant in my blood.” (1 Corinthians 11:24,25) He knew His suffering was for their benefit, our benefit. He wasn’t really thanking God for bread and wine that night. He was looking beyond. Beyond that night, beyond Himself, and beyond the suffering. Jesus gave thanks for what God was going to do because of His sacrifice.
When you and I face trials we can choose to do the same. It’s not easy. But if we have the Holy Spirit then we can ask God for the strength to look beyond our personal suffering towards the good ends that God promises to accomplish through it (Romans 8:28,29).
2. Jesus submitted to the Father.
Later that night, in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prayed, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” (Matthew 26:39)
Maybe you’ve been in a “garden” of sorts yourself, begging God to let this cup pass from you. In those moments when the weight of suffering falls heavy, we pray. We ask others to pray. And it’s okay to ask, “Father, if it be possible…,” but the bottom line of all our petitions is best modeled after Christ’s own words, “Nevertheless, not my will but yours be done.” God knows what He’s doing even when we can’t make heads or tails of it.
3. Jesus endured for joy.
“…looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:2)
Jesus didn’t give thanks for the cross. Rather, He “despised its shame.” This verse says He endured the cross. So when Paul exhorts us to “give thanks in all circumstances” he’s not telling us to go around exclaiming, “I have cancer! God is SO good!”, or, “My spouse is cheating on me, what a blessing THAT is!” We instinctively know this CAN’T be how God calls us to respond to suffering.
No, sometimes the call is simply to endure, to forebear, to trust God and wait. It’s okay to despise the shame of abuse, addiction, false accusation. It’s okay to mourn the miscarriage, regret the abortion, to hurt like hell over sin and death. It’s okay to bury your heart in a bed of tears when betrayal or rejection steals life from your soul. Jesus isn’t asking us to give thanks for the cross we bear, He’s asking us to endure it…
… for the joy set before us.
The cross and the grave were temporary. But the reward is eternal – and Jesus focused on that eternal joy in a way that enabled Him to endure the present. For those whose faith is in Christ there’s a blood-bought promise that we too will rise from death to life, not only in the eternal sense but in the everyday crosses and graves we experience. We will rise. That illness, that accident, that job loss, that injustice, that rape, that foreclosure, that grave, that person – they don’t have the final say…
The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous and his ears toward their cry.
The face of the Lord is against those who do evil,
to cut off the memory of them from the earth.
When the righteous cry for help,
the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles.
The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.
Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
but the Lord delivers him out of them all.
The Lord redeems the life of his servants;
none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned.
Psalm 34:15-19,22
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Niki Schemanski is a wife of eighteen years and homeschooling mother of three children. A love of singing led her into an early career in performing arts at eight years and after college she became a worship pastor. She and her family reside in Durango, Colorado. (Read More: About The Author)