“…In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
I Thessalonians 5:18 NKJV
Gratitude is not the first virtue I normally might think of as I sit through this pandemic. My life, along with untold millions across the world, is being upended in various ways and degrees. I am obviously grateful that personally and familywise, we are healthy and, in a place, where all our needs are met. I recognize quickly that not everyone is in that same state. I am sympathetic and compassionate for those struggling and grieving, while at the same time grateful that my loved ones are healthy. It is a paradox of emotions that many of us will need to sensitively walk out in the coming months.
That being said, I sense the Lord working the virtue of gratitude in me today. A gratitude that transcends simple circumstances and goes to the core of my nature. Paul writes that we are to be grateful. He qualifies that exhortation with the use of an overlooked preposition at the beginning of the verse. Paul never tells us to be grateful “for” everything, but rather to be grateful “in” everything. That little preposition shift makes all the difference when trying to come to grips with gratitude. I am not being asked to be thankful FOR the pandemic, but rather to be thankful IN the pandemic. Can I manifest a gratitude attitude IN the midst of an adversity as well as in the midst of some pleasantry?
I am reminded of a book I read years ago by M. Scott Peck, “The Road Less Traveled”. There was a paragraph which I nearly memorized which goes:
“Life is difficult. This is a great truth, one of the greatest truths. It is a great truth because once we truly see this truth, we transcend it. Once we truly know that life is difficult – once we truly understand and accept it – then life is no longer difficult. Because once it has been accepted, the fact that life is difficult no longer matters. Most do not fully see this truth that life is difficult. Instead they moan more or less incessantly, noisily, or subtly, about the enormity of their problems, their burdens, their difficulties, as if life were generally easy, as if life should be easy. They voice their belief that their difficulties represent a unique kind of affliction that should not be, and that somehow has been especially visited upon them, or else upon their families, their tribe, their class, their nation, their race, or even their species, and not upon others. I know about this moaning because I have done my fair share”.
Ouch…
I don’t want to be a moaner…
Or a whiner…
Or a complainer…
Or an ingrate…
I want to be grateful. Grateful for a thousand other things that still remain true even as I sit behind these closed doors and watch my beloved nation squirm, and fuss, and feud, and blame under the effects of this virus.
Certainly, I am grateful for family, friends, and a life that is still substantially better than 95% of the rest of the world. Certainly, I am grateful for health, provision, and all my basic needs met. But beyond that (and far more importantly), I am grateful to Jesus Christ Who saved me and redeemed for all eternity. I am grateful that no matter what happens on this side of eternity, I have some good news awaiting me on the other side. I am grateful that the Lord has given me purpose and a calling. I am grateful that I awaken every day to the wonder of His providence and the excitement of seeing it at work. I am grateful that I was born into such a time as this. I am grateful for God’s intricate orchestration of all things for His Glory. I am grateful for sins forgiven and for a past redeemed. I am grateful that I have a future and a hope. I am grateful that I don’t have to do life alone, but I have One that sticks closer than a brother.
For those things and a hundred more…I am grateful.
Even IN the midst of a pandemic…
There is much to be thankful for…
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