{"id":1320,"date":"2010-11-24T01:55:36","date_gmt":"2010-11-24T01:55:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/markdroberts\/2010\/11\/but-how-can-i-be-thankful-when.html"},"modified":"2010-11-24T01:55:36","modified_gmt":"2010-11-24T01:55:36","slug":"but-how-can-i-be-thankful-when","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2010\/11\/but-how-can-i-be-thankful-when.html","title":{"rendered":"But How Can I Be Thankful When . . . ?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Bible instructs us to be consistently thankful. In writing to the
\nThessalonian Christians, the Apostle Paul said, “Give thanks in all circumstances<\/em>;
\nfor this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thess 5:18).
\nThis sounds nice enough, until you find yourself in difficult, even
\npainful circumstances. Then inspired biblical truth can feel like an
\ninsensitive platitude.<\/p>\n

“How can I be thankful when . . . ?” Various scenarios complete the
\nsentence. “How can I be thankful when this is the first Thanksgiving
\nsince my mother died? Or when my family is in such disarray? Or when I’m
\nin the middle of chemotherapy?” Throughout my years as a pastor, I’ve
\noften heard this sort of question, especially as Thanksgiving Day draws
\nnear. People would really like to feel grateful, but their life
\ncircumstances seem to make genuine gratitude impossible. They feel stuck
\nin discouragement and despair.<\/p>\n

If we take the Psalms as a model for prayer, then we should certainly
\nfeel free, even obligated, to share with the Lord our frustrations and
\ndisappointments. Genuine prayer is not putting a happy face on our true
\nfeelings. If you’re grieving the loss of a loved one, or feeling afraid
\nbecause you’re facing a serious illness, you should surely share these
\nfeelings with God in prayer. Being thankful in all circumstances does
\nnot mean pretending or denying.<\/p>\n

\"Mark-Dad-toddler-5.jpg\"<\/form>\n

But
\nit does mean that we must look beyond our particular circumstances.
\nGratitude comes when we look at the bigger picture, when we remember the
\nmultitude of ways in which we are blessed, even if we’re also feeling
\nsadness or fear or whatever else seems inconsistent with being thankful.
\nFor example, this will be my twenty-fourth Thanksgiving without my
\nfather, who died of cancer in 1986. Every year on this holiday I think
\nabout my dad. I miss him. I wish we could watch football together. I
\nwish he were there to carve the turkey. Mostly I just wish I could be
\nwith him. So, ironically, on Thanksgiving Day I feel more sadness than
\nusual over the loss of my father. (Photo: my dad and me in 1957.)<\/p>\n

Yet I also feel thankful for him. Although I wish I could have
\nhad more time with my dad, I treasure the time I did have. I thank God
\nfor the hours my dad and I spent playing Candy Land and Star Reporter;
\nand for his subtle sense of humor; and for his solid example of
\nChristian faithfulness; and for his support when I desperately needed
\nit. I am able to offer genuine thanks for my father, without denying the
\nsadness I feel over his early death.<\/p>\n

“But,” you may object, “you lost your father a long time ago. You
\nstill feel pain, but the wound isn’t fresh. What about people who are in
\nthe midst of suffering right now? Can they be truly grateful?” My
\nanswer is “Yes.” How do I know this? Because I’ve seen it time and again
\nin my ministry. I’ve watched people in the midst of a crisis
\nnevertheless be able to express authentic thanks to God.<\/p>\n\"Rinkart-Martin-t.jpg\"<\/form>\n

When
\nI think of gratitude in the face of suffering, I remember Martin
\nRinkart. He was a pastor in the city of Eilenburg, Germany during the
\nfirst decades of the seventeenth century. If you remember your European
\nhistory, this was during the so-called Thirty Years’ War. Eilenburg, as a
\nwalled city, was often overcrowded with refugees. This often led to
\nfamine and disease. Conditions were so horrible in Eilenburg that
\nthousands of people died, and, for a season, Rinkart was the only
\nminister in town. During this period of time he performed up to fifty
\nfunerals in a single day. Over his lifetime he officiated at over 4,000
\nfunerals. We can only imagine the horrific suffering Rinkart
\nexperienced.<\/p>\n

In the midst of this ordeal he wrote several hymns. One caught on
\namong German speaking people and, in translation, among English speaking
\npeople as well. What was this popular hymn? In the original language it
\nbegins: “Nun danket alle Gott, mit Herzen, Mund und H\u00e4nden.” In English
\ntranslation the hymn is a Thanksgiving favorite:<\/p>\n

\n

Now thank we all our God
\nWith heart and hands and voices,
\nWho wondrous things hath done,
\nIn whom this world rejoices;
\nWho, from our mothers’ arms,
\nHath blessed us on our way
\nWith countless gifts of love,
\nAnd still is ours today.<\/p>\n

O may this bounteous God
\nThrough all our life be near us,
\nWith ever joyful hearts
\nAnd blessed peace to cheer us;
\nAnd keep us in God’s grace,
\nAnd guide us when perplexed,
\nAnd free us from all ills
\nIn this world and the next.<\/p>\n

All praise and thanks to God,
\nWho reigns in highest heaven,
\nTo Father and to Son
\nAnd Spirit now be given.
\nThe one eternal God,
\nWhom heaven and earth adore,
\nThe God who was, and is,
\nAnd shall be evermore.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

I’ve always liked this hymn. But I had probably sung it fifty times
\nbefore I learned about its background. Now it means so much more to me.
\nMartin Rinkart was calling for thanksgiving, not in a season of plenty,
\nbut in the midst of want. He was reminding us to look above our pain and
\nto remember God’s “wondrous things” and “countless gifts of love.” The
\nhymn acknowledges that we will sometimes be “perplexed” and suffer “all
\nills.” But by lifting our eyes above these immediate circumstances, we
\nare able to give thanks to God. The last verse looks, not to the good
\nthings God has done for us, but to the very nature of our good God, who
\ndeserves “all praise and thanks.”<\/p>\n

The ability to look beyond our immediate circumstances is itself a
\ngift of God’s grace. If you’re struggling to be grateful, ask the Lord
\nto give you a fresher and truer perspective on your life. Allow yourself
\nenough time to remember and reflect upon God’s gifts. Most of all,
\nthink about who God is. Meditate upon his mercy and love. The more you
\ndo, the more you’ll find true gratitude flowing from your heart.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Bible instructs us to be consistently thankful. In writing to the Thessalonian Christians, the Apostle Paul said, “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thess 5:18). This sounds nice enough, until you find yourself in difficult, even painful circumstances. Then inspired biblical truth…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":214,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1320","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-thanksgiving"],"yoast_head":"\nBut How Can I Be Thankful When . . . ? - Mark D. Roberts<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2010\/11\/but-how-can-i-be-thankful-when.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"But How Can I Be Thankful When . . . ? - Mark D. Roberts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Bible instructs us to be consistently thankful. In writing to the Thessalonian Christians, the Apostle Paul said, “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thess 5:18). This sounds nice enough, until you find yourself in difficult, even painful circumstances. Then inspired biblical truth…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2010\/11\/but-how-can-i-be-thankful-when.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Mark D. Roberts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-11-24T01:55:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/markdroberts\/files\/import\/photos\/Mark-Dad-toddler-5.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mark D. Roberts\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"But How Can I Be Thankful When . . . ? - Mark D. Roberts","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2010\/11\/but-how-can-i-be-thankful-when.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"But How Can I Be Thankful When . . . ? - Mark D. Roberts","og_description":"The Bible instructs us to be consistently thankful. In writing to the Thessalonian Christians, the Apostle Paul said, “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thess 5:18). This sounds nice enough, until you find yourself in difficult, even painful circumstances. Then inspired biblical truth…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2010\/11\/but-how-can-i-be-thankful-when.html","og_site_name":"Mark D. Roberts","article_published_time":"2010-11-24T01:55:36+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/markdroberts\/files\/import\/photos\/Mark-Dad-toddler-5.jpg"}],"author":"Mark D. Roberts","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2010\/11\/but-how-can-i-be-thankful-when.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2010\/11\/but-how-can-i-be-thankful-when.html","name":"But How Can I Be Thankful When . . . ? - Mark D. Roberts","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2010\/11\/but-how-can-i-be-thankful-when.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2010\/11\/but-how-can-i-be-thankful-when.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/markdroberts\/files\/import\/photos\/Mark-Dad-toddler-5.jpg","datePublished":"2010-11-24T01:55:36+00:00","dateModified":"2010-11-24T01:55:36+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/#\/schema\/person\/1ff094a57b7e41f534434b1723df3d73"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2010\/11\/but-how-can-i-be-thankful-when.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2010\/11\/but-how-can-i-be-thankful-when.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2010\/11\/but-how-can-i-be-thankful-when.html#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/markdroberts\/files\/import\/photos\/Mark-Dad-toddler-5.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/markdroberts\/files\/import\/photos\/Mark-Dad-toddler-5.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2010\/11\/but-how-can-i-be-thankful-when.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"But How Can I Be Thankful When . . . ?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/","name":"Mark D. Roberts","description":"Mark D. Roberts: Thoughtfully Christian Reflections on Jesus, the Church, and the World","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/#\/schema\/person\/1ff094a57b7e41f534434b1723df3d73","name":"Mark D. Roberts","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/f2d\/f2ddf5f080861f66ea230384f9d1bab2x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/f2d\/f2ddf5f080861f66ea230384f9d1bab2x96.jpg","caption":"Mark D. Roberts"},"description":"The Rev. Dr. Mark D. Roberts is a pastor, author, retreat leader, speaker, and blogger. Since October 2007 he has been the Senior Director and Scholar-in-Residence for Laity Lodge, a multifaceted ministry in the Hill Country of Texas. Before coming to Laity Lodge, he was for sixteen years the Senior Pastor of Irvine Presbyterian Church in Irvine, California (a city in Orange County about forty miles south of Los Angeles). Before his time at Irvine Pres, Mark served on the staff of the First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood as Associate Pastor of Education. (Thanks to Janel Pahl for taking the photo to the right.) Mark studied at Harvard University, receiving a B.A. in Philosophy, an M.A. in the Study of Religion, and a Ph.D. in New Testament and Christian Origins. He has taught classes in New Testament for Fuller Theological Seminary and San Francisco Theological Seminary. Mark has written several books, including No Holds Barred: Wrestling with God in Prayer (WaterBrook, 2005), Dare to Be True (WaterBrook, 2003), Jesus Revealed (WaterBrook, 2002), After \"I Believe\" (Baker, 2002), and Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther (Word, 1993). His most recent book is Can We Trust the Gospels? Investigating the Reliability of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John (Crossway, 2007). He is currently working on a commentary on Ephesians that will be published by Zondervan in 2014. Mark writes a devotional for The High Calling of Our Daily Work, a website associated with Laity Lodge. His \"Daily Reflections\" can be viewed online or sent as a daily email. If you wish to receive this email, just visit TheHighCalling.org and sign up. Mark serves on the editorial board of Worship Leader magazine, where he publishes articles and reviews, including his regular column \"Lyrical Poetry.\" Additionally, he has published dozens of articles in leading magazines and journals. He often speaks for churches and other Christian groups, and has been interviewed on over seventy-five radio programs nationwide. Mark is married to Linda, who is a Marriage and Family Therapist, a Spiritual Director, and a retreat speaker. They have two children, Nathan and Kara.For Publicity Photos and Bio Statements for Mark, please check here. Mark's Dossier Professional History: Senior Director and Scholar-in Residence, Laity Lodge, October 2007 to present. Senior Pastor Irvine Presbyterian Church, June 1991 to September 2007 Adjunct Assistant Professor Fuller Theological Seminary, 1994 to 2007. Courses: New Testament Theology and Exegesis. Adjunct Instructor San Francisco Theological Seminary, 1995 to 2001. Courses: New Testament Greek and Exegesis Associate Pastor of Education First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood, 1987-1991 Teaching Fellow Harvard University, 1980-1983 Education: Ph.D. in the Study of Religion. Harvard University, 1992. Area: New Testament and Christian Origins M.A. in the Study of Religion Harvard University, 1984. A.B. magna cum laude in Philosophy Harvard University, 1979. Phi Beta Kappa; Danforth Fellowship Books: Can We Trust the Gospels? Investigating the Reliability of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Crossway, 2007 No Holds Barred: Wrestling with God in Prayer. WaterBrook, 2005 Dare to Be True: Living in the Freedom of Complete Honesty. WaterBrook, 2003. Jesus Revealed: Know Him Better to Love Him Better. WaterBrook, 2002. After \"I Believe\": Experiencing Authentic Christian Living. Baker, 2002. Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther in the Communicator's Commentary Series. Word, 1993. Contacting Mark: You can reach Mark at: E-mail: mark@markdroberts.com mroberts@laitylodge.org Phone: Laity Lodge: (830) 792-1216 Address: Laity Lodge 719 Earl Garrett Kerrville, TX 78028","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/author\/mroberts"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1320","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/214"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1320"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1320\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1320"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1320"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1320"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}