Thankful for What Hasn't Changed

photo by Stu Johnson

Pastor George Garrison continues his occasional series, "Thursday Thoughts," on topics prompted by the American struggle with COVID-19, racial inequality, and a nation that remains deeply divided politically.

With all that has transpired this past year it is easy to focus on all the ways our lives have changed. As I reflected recently on Paul’s admonition to the Thessalonians to be “thankful in all circumstances” (1 Thessalonians 5:18), my thoughts turned toward how this verse harmonizes with the harsh realities of life. With all of the loss that so many have experienced on so many levels, is Scripture telling us to simply buck up and give thanks in spite of all circumstances? Isn’t that living in denial to some degree? And, while of course Scripture contains several passages regarding how God is at work in the midst of very trying circumstances, I also realized that there are many circumstances to be thankful for this year that no virus or person or social or economic trend can touch. In fact, they are circumstances we believers can be thankful for every year without fail

 It’s tempting to simply view circumstances as including all the things that bombard us most recently, good and bad. But the definition of circumstances includes much more than that. The definition, according to Webster’s, is broad enough to include “any fact or condition connected with or relevant to an event or action.” This means that we can be thankful for our present circumstances, circumstances that many of us have experienced for decades, because they are connected to the event of Christ’s death on the cross. In light of that fact, here’s what we can all be thankful for this year:

Salvation. First and foremost, because of Christ’s death on the cross, God has forever transformed our circumstances so that we who were lost and without hope now know complete forgiveness with a secured eternal future. How can we not be forever thankful for those circumstances? In fact, Scripture tells us we will be, and rightfully so!

Righteousness. Because of Christ’s shed blood, when God looks at us He sees the perfect righteousness of His Son. God doesn’t look at us and see His children struggling to do their best to become righteous in His eyes; we already are! We are often our harshest critics, but our circumstance of righteousness in light of Christ’s means we don’t have the right to evaluate ourselves before Him using any other standard.

Inheritance. Our eternal inheritance is secured because of Christ’s death. No matter how hard the economy hits us, no matter how our portfolio or retirement plan tracks for this year, no activity on Wall Street can impact heaven’s Golden Streets! This year was another big year of gain (like every year!) for believers in terms of our future, as we all move that much closer to experiencing an eternal inheritance that is secured by Christ’s death.

Spiritual Blessings. Because of the event of Christ’s death, God has lavished us with every spiritual blessing in Him. Not only do we know the spiritual circumstantial blessings of love and joy and peace and hope (spoiler alert: our four Advent themes this year!) because of the cross of Christ, all four of those circumstantial blessings are at work in us as we face this life’s challenging circumstances.

There are many more things we could add to this list; we have so much to be thankful for as the people of God! And while, yes, we will join with our country by being thankful for all of life’s blessings this year in the midst of a year and life as we’ve never known it before, let us give thanks for all the blessings we have in Christ that are well known. In a year of great change, how thankful we are for our circumstances that haven’t changed!

Sharing Thursday Thoughts this Thanksgiving with you (and Happy Thanksgiving to all!)

Pastor George