Why Are We Thankful?

On Sunday I preached a sermon on Revelation 3:16. I’ve been doing a lot of 3:16’s this year (explain if necessary)

I informed those who were here on Sunday that there would only be one more 3:16 this year. Then I read our benediction out of Lamentations 3 at the close of service and decided to have a bonus 3:16. This is what I read.

Lamentations 3:22–24 (ESV)

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.”

Now, when I decided to go through the 3:16’s I made a list of every single one and before I select one, I pray and read them over. There is one out there that never really caught my attention.

One specifically I said to myself, I think I’ll probably not do that one.

Lamentations 3:16 (ESV)

He has made my teeth grind on gravel, and made me cower in ashes;

Those do not seem the words of a thankful person, yet 5 verses later we see praise to God and great thankfulness.

If you have a Bible take a look at the Book of Lamentations and peek at the heading of chapter three. What does it say?

Great is your Faithfulness?

This guy does not seem very thankful. In fact, if you read the first 18 verses of chapter 3 all you will see is complaining.

I complain. I hear people complain. Complaining is not a new human thing. And there is a lot in this world to complain about. It’s a fallen world and things don’t always go right.

So what do we have to be Thankful for? According to the first 18 verses of this lament: nothing.

But then we hit Lam 3:22-27

Lamentations 3:22–27 (ESV)

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.”

The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth.

Life is never going to go 100% the way we want it to. And we complain, we have bad days.

One solution we have come up with. Thanksgiving Day. It’s a great day, don’t get me wrong. We take the day, put aside the cares of the world and focus on what we are thankful for.

It is a great concept. And I look forward to tomorrow when I get to share food and fellowship with others.

But I have a Thanksgiving challenge from our Lamenter. Be thankful everyday.

You see, he is complaining, and quite a bit. This chapter is 66 verses long and he doesn’t stop at 18, he just pauses in his complaining.

But when he pauses he says that God is with Him. He says it is good to wait on the Lord. He says that the mercies are new every morning.

If the mercies of the Lord are new every morning, then why are we not thankful everyday of the year?

If we focus on all the bad, sure there is a lot to complain about. But if we acknowledge that the world doesn’t always go the way we think it should and then turn to God and be thankful for what he has given us. Not just on the 4th Thurs on November, but everyday. What might that do to our own souls?

That’s my prayerful challenge to you this Thanksgiving season, is whenever you feel like the world is against you: Go to God, acknowledge that that world IS against you. And thank him for being with you.

Let’s pray.