Introduction & Thanks
The day has come, they finally came after you and your friends for your faith in a 2,000-year-old man who allegedly rose from the dead. They put handcuffs on you and isolate you from the rest of society you once were free to roam. The opportunity to speak at your trial approaches, but things aren’t looking good; the judge doesn’t appreciate the lifestyle you’ve been called to and considers it a cause of ‘unrest’. A few of your friends visit to tell you how the church is doing, but all you can do is write a letter with the pen and paper the guards gave you. What would you write about? Paul wrote 30 verses of thankfulness and gratitude to begin a letter of encouragement.
Though none of us currently face persecutions of equal intensity Paul experienced in Rome, afflictions are not foreign to the Christian. Whether our everyday lives have become a struggle; i.e. our boss found out we love Jesus which resurfaces their hatred for His followers, or we battle every day sharing the Gospel with people who are enslaved… it’s hard out there. Yet we serve the living God who sees all, knows all, and is present in all.
Paul doesn’t care if he is in chains or out there working alongside his faith family in Philippi, he knows he shares in the grace of God with them. But they’re all suffering. Life on the surface looks bad, not good. How ought Paul be thankful? Perhaps a better question might be where are we looking? God’s people have faced death and hardship throughout all of history. They have faced invading armies and desolation from foes; persecution and loss; enslavement and mistreatment. In all of these circumstances, the authors of the Bible and their correspondence are in light of these challenges. Yet in these moments, we have some of the most profound moments of hopefulness and trust in God, the one we know is above the circumstances and our pain and is simultaneously right there with us. Because of this, we are not consumed by what we face in this dying age. Don’t get me wrong, these are real battles; difficult, grueling fights seemingly to our core. Ones in which God equips us with real weapons to fight and is a pillar of who we are as His people.
Thomas Watson in his book “All Things for Good” considers the weapons of gratitude and thankfulness in the face of affliction. “To be thankful in affliction is a work peculiar to a saint. Every bird can sing in spring, but some birds will sing in the dead of winter. Everyone, almost, can be thankful in prosperity, but a true saint can be thankful in adversity. A good Christian will bless God, not only at sunrise, but at sunset. Well may we, in the worst that befalls us, have a psalm of thankfulness, because all things work for good. Oh, be much in blessing of God: we will thank him that doth befriend us” (Watson, 1663, pg. 62-63).
We have hope in every circumstance because we believe in God who is merciful. Better, yet, He is doing an eternal work among us surpassing our lives. And if we’re honest, the surpassing grandeur of God’s purposes for our lives attacks our selfishness. Yet God’s people are that of hope and joy because we know the end. We know Christ is moving to reclaim what is His, and we know our Father looks after all those who call on His name. Paul remembers and takes delight in this reality amidst his own. Believers all over the region are stepping out in faith, how beautiful that is! The ones he discipled from spiritual infanthood are grown and standing firm, how wonderful it is to witness the sincerity of faith in our brothers and sisters! I submit to you in our day the same God is moving in His people; He is reclaiming what is lost and refining the faith of His saints. Because of Christ, we have a choice: are we going to be consumed by our situation and turn a blind eye to the works of God, or are we going to gaze upon the promises and take note in our hearts of the work of His Spirit?
For some this may be a refining word, for others, it should be considered a gracious invitation: God’s work is eternal both in us and in the world. As you read texts of thankfulness, and gratitude amid grief and heartache, consider prayerfully:
What is our position before God? What is God’s position?
What does it mean to ‘gaze upon the promises’ and fix our eyes on the eternal end?
Why and how are God’s gifts to His people always merciful? What does this mean for our resting disposition in our lives?
