I wrote this blog almost 3 months ago (it's now actually November), but never got around to publishing it. It's interesting to look back on my writing and see what has changed - for me, it's even more to give thanks for, in terms of improved health, and a certain lady saying yes the question no guy wants to ask more than once...
"Recently, I was reminded of the need to give thanks. For me, personally, there have been few things to really complain about in the last couple of years: a good degree (and Masters), the opportunity to go travelling (and therefore escape the job that I got to earn the money to go), studying and living with some awesome guys in Africa for 4 months last year, and now, a good job in London, a wonderful girlfriend (got to mention her or there'll be trouble), a great flat, and church, and friends. It hasn't all been easy, but really, I'm doing better than most.
Yet how often do I give thanks, and to who do I give thanks when I remember it? I have a long list of people who deserve thanks for all the opportunities I've had: my parents and family, friends, girlfriend (two mentions!), even my tutors at university, the research department in Stellenbosch, and many more I've forgotten (sorry). I suppose, in a strange way, I should thank the Civil Service for giving me a job, although I guess I have a more general feeling of thankfulness for that situation, rather than being able to target a particular person.
And yet there are plenty of events that occur in our lives, which we don't see coming at all. Events totally out of our control, but which impact deeply on our lives, either directly, or indirectly through their effects on those around us. Getting glandular fever comes into this category - one week I was feeling great, getting settled into my job, finding a really good rhythm, and looking at how to get involved in more things with church, or in the community, and the next I'm barely able to stay awake. 4 months on, things have improved, but I guess my best laid plans have been laid low for a while: usually asleep by 10 at the latest, unable to make more than 2 days in the office in a week without feeling exhausted (thank God for working from home), declining social invitations left right and centre, unable to play basketball, go to the gym, or make the most of the glorious English weather - ok I made the last one up.
How do we react to these situations and those like it? When the foundations we leant so heavily on fall away, do we choose that moment to be thankful? I find it far too easy to focus in on the problem, which only serves to skew my perspective, unable to see the bigger picture. And yet I know there are plenty of people, millions, in far worse situations than me.
The apostle Paul was a man who knew a wide range of human experiences, some good and some bad. He knew what it felt like to have great power and authority, to be struck blind, listened to and ignored, looked after and abused, stoned and left for dead, shipwrecked and almost drowned, in prison and free, given great visions of the future and stuck with a thorn in the flesh that he didn't ask for. He knew what it meant to have plenty, and have little. And yet he was content in every situation. He is also the author of most of the New Testament letters, and the word thanks (or equivalents like thanksgiving) appear many, many times in his writing.
The God of heaven, rescuing us (all of us) from darkness, and bringing us into light, through Jesus His Son. In dying on the cross, Jesus makes it possible for us to know God, because through him our sins are forgiven, the slate wiped clean and forever unable to be marked again, and life as it was meant to be lived can be lived.
So our thanksgiving is meant to be centred on what God has done for us through Jesus! The ultimate impact of this sacrifice won't be felt in this life: eternal life starts now, but true perfection, without sickness or death or disease or human selfishness or pride, is a promise that hangs over our lives until Jesus comes back again to deal with this world and make it new. This means that, ultimately, we always have a reason to give thanks, because of what Jesus has done. Even our sufferings are a reason to give thanks, because through them, as James says, "the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." The whole of human life takes on a new perspective, because of what Jesus did, and promises us hope, both for now and the future.
So what does this mean for me, in my life? It means thanking God in every situation, that He does not do anything without reason. He seeks our completeness, our wholeness, in all that He does. It means thanking others for the small things in life that He does for me, noticing things that I would normally take for granted, and not grumbling over the insignificant bits that frustrate and annoy me. It means allowing this new perspective of Christ's death for me to transform all of my experiences. Paul exhorts the followers in Colosse to have the following attitude:
"So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, overflowing with thankfulness". (2:6-7)
