It’s noticeable.
In almost every conversation I find myself in, the conversation eventually moves toward complaint. If you don’t believe me, listen carefully to the next five conversations you’re part of or take a second look at texts from friends and family. At some point, those conversations or texts will likely gravitate toward complaining about work, finances, neighbours, a spouse, children, church, health, governments, or an array of other things.
I was reminded this Thanksgiving that Christian thankfulness is not rooted primarily in our circumstances. It is rooted in the work Jesus Christ has done for us.
Thanksgiving Begins With What God Has Done for Us
Thanksgiving naturally causes us to think about what we have received: food, family, shelter, health, work, and countless other gifts. Christians should thank God for all his provision and kindness, but the apostles take our gratitude deeper. Our greatest reason for thanksgiving is our salvation.
Paul writes that we are to give “thanks to the Father, who has qualified [us] to share in the inheritance of the saints in light” and “has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Col. 1:12–14). He also declares, “Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!” (2 Cor. 9:15).
It is easy to gloss over words like qualified in the verse above. In most areas of life, you are the one who qualifies yourself. Your credentials and experience qualify you for your job. Your ability and talent qualify you for a sports team or orchestra.
But we could never qualify ourselves for salvation.
The Father qualifies us because of the work of Christ. Christ redeems us. Christ secures our forgiveness. Christ’s work allows us to share in the inheritance of the saints.
I couldn’t save myself—God saved me!
Peter begins his first letter in much the same way: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!” God has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ and has secured an eternal inheritance for us (1 Pet. 1:3–5).
Every morning when we wake up, we have reason to give thanks.
Regardless of my circumstances, I am redeemed and forgiven. I have been reconciled to God and adopted into his family. The Holy Spirit dwells in me. I have been promised an eternal inheritance.
Before I thank God for anything else, I thank him for Christ. That should be our waking breath and thought.
Thanksgiving Includes Thanking God for One Another
One of the striking features of Paul’s letters is how frequently he tells Christians that he thanks God for them.
“I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you” (Rom. 1:8).
“I thank my God in all my remembrance of you” (Phil. 1:3).
“We always thank God . . . when we pray for you” (Col. 1:3).
“We give thanks to God always for all of you” (1 Thess. 1:2).
Thanksgiving has a profoundly communal dimension.
Who do you thank God for? Who has the Lord placed in your life whom you regularly pause to thank him for?
Perhaps some of the most important prayers we can pray this Thanksgiving are very simple ones:
Father, thank you for my spouse. Thank you for my children. Thank you for friends. Thank you for co-labourers in the gospel. Thank you for brothers and sisters in Christ who have walked with me. Thank you for the people through whom you have encouraged, corrected, strengthened, and loved me.
Thanksgiving Is Hard When Life Hurts
But giving thanks can be challenging.
Paul writes, “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thess. 5:18).
Earlier this year, a vehicle swerved into my lane and struck me head-on. My right thumb was broken badly enough to require surgery and ongoing treatment. More than seven months later, my dominant hand still functions at only about 75 percent. Alongside that, I live with daily sciatic pain. The doctors have told me that having “abs” will help with my sciatic pain. I’m still working on the “abs” part.
There are days when gratitude does not come naturally.
But Scripture does not call us to pretend suffering doesn’t hurt. Nor does it suggest that acknowledging pain somehow diminishes our faith. Instead, Scripture reminds us that suffering does not diminish God’s goodness.
God has even given us the language of lament.
As Mark Vroegop writes in Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy: Discovering the Grace of Lament (Crossway, 2019),
Lament gives us permission to bring our pain honestly before God while continuing to trust his character and promises.
I can lament my pain and suffering while still praising God.
Christian thanksgiving is not pretending everything is fine. It is declaring that even when everything is not fine, God is still good.
Thanksgiving Pushes Back Against Complaint
Then comes one of the verses I find particularly challenging: “Do all things without grumbling or disputing” (Phil. 2:14).
Paul does not say, “Do everything without grumbling when life is going well.” He says: in all things.
And the context matters. Paul has just described Christ humbling himself, taking the form of a servant, and becoming obedient to the point of death on a cross (Phil. 2:5–11). He then reminds believers that God himself is at work in them, “both to will and to work for his good pleasure” (Phil. 2:12–13).
It is then that he tells us not to grumble. Grumbling often reveals something about what I believe I deserve. Thanksgiving reminds me that everything I have is God’s gracious gift.
I find this particularly challenging when pain is constant. Pain wears you down. Limitations frustrate you. Things that were once simple become difficult. Occasional frustration can slowly become a complaining spirit.
The challenge is not pretending my hand doesn’t hurt or that sciatica isn’t exhausting. The challenge is refusing to allow pain to become the dominant lens through which I see God’s providence.
God is still graciously at work.
There is also an important distinction between lament and complaint. Lament takes our pain to God while continuing to trust him. Complaint can allow our pain to become an accusation against God, his goodness, or his providence.
One draws us toward him. The other can quietly pull our hearts away.
A Thankful People
Thanksgiving is more than a holiday. It is a Christian posture toward life.
We thank God for salvation. We thank him for the people he has placed in our lives. We thank him even while we lament what hurts. And we resist allowing complaining to become the soundtrack of our lives.
Paul says that when believers live without grumbling and disputing, they stand out “as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life” (Phil. 2:15–16).
What if that described us?
What if, in our conversations, text messages, and social media posts, Christians became known less for what we complain about and more for whom we thank?
In a world filled with complaining, a genuinely thankful life is noticeable.
And perhaps people will ask what makes the difference.
That gives us the opportunity to point them to the reason we have life, hope, forgiveness, and an eternal inheritance: Jesus Christ.
Happy Thanksgiving.
