"We have So Much to be Thankful For"

“We have so much to be thankful for...”

I’ve not yet had the privilege of meeting the woman that this saying is attributed to (in our family at least).

Jonny’s grandma was, so I’m told, frequently reminding herself and others of this wonderful truth. In fact, so memorable is the phrase and important the sentiment, Jonny’s family often quote her to one another with smiles on their faces. What a wonderful thing to be remembered by!

I cannot wait to meet Jonny’s grandma. I thank God that one day, by his grace, I will see her in the glorious new creation. Until that day, I’d like her refrain to become mine. 

Perhaps you might make it yours too?

“We have so much to be thankful for...”

Thankfulness is something I’ve been prompted to think about again recently.

On Sunday morning last week, I was teaching the children at church Jesus' parable about the mustard seed. We’d been learning about how God’s Kingdom appears to be like a tiny mustard seed. But when the good news of Jesus is spoken out, the Kingdom will grow to be bigger than we can even imagine!

As we were coming to a close, I asked the children what they would like to pray for.

 

One dear girl Nene said, “Aunty Beth, we should thank God for our lives.”

Now I have to admit, when I asked the question, I was hoping for something a little more in line with the passage. But as I processed her sentence I was utterly undone.

A 13 year old girl wants to thank God for her life!

It's not the first time I’ve heard this sentiment here.

Many times I’ve heard adults and children pray “Thank you God that I’m alive.”  

It amazes me every time. I’d never heard that prayed in the UK.

One dear girl Nene said, “Aunty Beth, we should thank God for our lives.”

At SOW (the Bible School where we work) last Saturday during the morning prayer and praise time, one of the students, N, exhorted us to give thanks to God with these words: “Thank God now that he has allowed you to see this day. Many did not wake up this morning. Many did not see this day. Many bodies are now in the ground. Thank God that he has given you life today.”

As crude as it might sound, to ears unaccostomed to hearing of "bodies in the ground", N’s call to thanksgiving was so compelling to me. 

There is so much healthy truth here for us to learn from, if we are willing.

1. God has allowed you to see this day. He controls our lives. God knows our beginning and our end. And God has graciously given today to us. Thank God, today is ours.
2. Many did not wake up this morning, but we are awake! We can drink coffee and eat breakfast and go to work or read a book or visit a friend. We have today! We have today when so many others don’t. Let’s not waste today.  
3. Many bodies are now in the ground. But ours are alive! Our hearts are beating, our blood is pumping. We may be in the ground tomorrow but we have today. 
4. Thank God he has given you life today. Our life is a gift. God has given today to us. Let’s take it! Let’s take it with both hands and a grateful heart.

N's words and the words of Nene at church made me realise how ungrateful I can be most days, starting with the fact that I can count on one hand the number of times in my thirty years that I’ve started or ended the day with the prayer, "Thank you God for my life".

Perhaps people pray such prayers of thanks here because they are more deeply aware of the fragility of life, and dare I say it, live with much less of an assumption that life will be long and full of health and happiness. 

No doubt it's partly because:

Disease is common,

Doctors are expensive,

Ambulances run out of petrol,

Hospitals are resource poor. 

Death is simply a much bigger part of people's experience of life from beginning to end.

Of course I would love to see malaria eradicated, and everyone here to have access to the world-class healthcare that many of us have the privilege of accessing in the UK.

But I wonder if, growing up in a place where access to such things is simply not possible gives one a truer sense of the reality that life is not in our hands. As the prophet Jeremiah said "Lord I know that people's lives are not their own; it is not for them to direct their steps."

People here seem much more willing to accept that life and death are not within their control. But amazingly, rather than leading to bitterness and hopeless despair, this ‘life awareness' in many friends I have the privilege of knowing here leads to gratitude for the lives and days that they do have. Gratitude to the God who has given them life.

Perhaps people pray such prayers of thanks here because they are more deeply aware of the fragility of life.

One very dear friend C has, in the last five years, lost both her husband and her eldest daughter. She’s a single mum having to raise her younger daughter alone. She has experienced such painful loss. She has in many ways so much cause for bitterness and blame. And yet she gives thanks to God for her life. 

People like N, C and Nene amaze me every day. In some ways they are so poor, but I know when it comes to gratitude they are infinitely richer than me. And they are my teachers here. 

I want to be more like them. I want to live a life full of thanks to the God who has given me life.

I'm certain it's not always easy to do. I’m sure that's why the Bible writers have to keep reminding God’s people to ‘be thankful!”

Jonny reminded me recently of Paul’s words to the Thessalonians: “Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

God really wants us to live a life full of thanks (and joy and prayerfulness!).

To my shame there are days when I struggle to come up with one single thing to thank God for, when of course there is a wealth of reasons to be thankful.

I wonder if you’ve ever felt the same?

Well, thanks to Nene, C, and N, on days when I’m scratching my head, I’ll resolve to begin here: “Thank you God that I'm alive”.

Even saying the sentence aloud reminds me of what a joy it is! And it makes further thanks flow.

Try it now!

“Be joyful always; pray continually; gives thanks in all circumstances for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

We’re alive today. Alive to enjoy knowing Jesus and being useful in service to him. Alive to enjoy loving and serving the friends and family he’s given to us. Alive to enjoy God’s beautiful world. Alive to enjoy the precious promises of his word.

Thank God with me that we are alive today!

And of course if we are trusting in Jesus we know that even if tomorrow God calls us home, we will be more alive then, in that glorious new creation than we will ever have been in this short life.

"We have so much to be thankful for."

Indeed we do.