All Bible
quotations are taken from the New King James Version unless stated otherwise.
All through the Bible we are told to give
the Lord thanks and praise for all He has done for us. “I will praise You, O
Lord, with my whole heart; I will tell of all Your marvelous works.” (Psalm
9:1). “Therefore I will give thanks to You,
Oh Lord, among the Gentiles, And sing praises to Your name.” (Psalm 18:49). If
we are honest with ourselves, and with the Lord, we will admit that we don’t
always feel as thankful as we should be. What hinders our thankfulness?
First, I think comparing ourselves to
others, to what they have or can do, hinders us
from being or feeling really thankful. As soon as we start comparing ourselves
with others, our minds tell us how wonderful life must be for them. Throughout
my life, I have made the mistake of comparing myself with able-bodied people,
which is an unfair comparison. Almost everywhere I was, my mind would go to
someone who could do things faster and easier than I was able to. I struggled
with this in High School, Bible College, and even while I was volunteering for
a Christian Ministry, which I had always wanted to do.
Instead of being thankful to the Lord for
opening this opportunity for me, I was doing the opposite and complaining,
within myself, and to the Lord because I could not be as productive as the
person beside me. Paul, the apostle, speaks to this issue in 2 Corinthians
10:12, “For we dare not class ourselves or compare ourselves with those who commend
themselves. But they, measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing
themselves among themselves, are not wise.”
We know what happens when we compare ourselves
with others. We see ourselves as inferior to them. We are never “good enough.”
When that is the way, we view ourselves, eventually we give up and stop even
trying to do anything. This kind of attitude will be sure to hinder us from
being thankful to the Lord for creating us to be the people we are.
A second hinderance to thankfulness is discontentment.
A lot of discontentment comes from comparing ourselves with others and what
they have. We have heard the phase, “keeping up with the Jones.” We become
discontent with what we have compared to what the next person has. Then, for
some reason, our focus begins to shift from being completely on the Lord to the
people and circumstances around us. We become envious of the other person in
our thoughts because we think they have it better than us.
At one time, we may have been content with what
we had, as well as our life circumstances, when our eyes were focused completely
on the Lord and what He has blessed us with, even though it was just enough to
get by on. Because we were content, we were able to be thankful to the Lord,
and able to serve Him with the gifts He has given us.
Consider the parable of the Vineyard. “For
the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to
hire laborers for his vineyard. Now when he had agreed with the laborers for a
denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard.” (Matthew 20:1-2). The laborers
were content to work for a denarius a day. The vineyard’s owner kept going to
the marketplace at various times during the day – at the third hour, the sixth
hour, the ninth hour and the eleventh hour. Each time he went to the
marketplace, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace. And he said to
them, “You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you. So
they went.” (Matthew 20:4).
When evening came, the vineyard’s owner had
the steward call the laborers in to give them their wages for the day. Starting
with the last laborers hired, the owner gave them each a denarius. The laborers
who started first supposed that they would receive more, but they also received
a denarius. They complained to the owner. “And when they had received it (a
denarius), they complained against the landowner, saying, ‘These last men have
worked only one hour, and you made them equal to us who have borne the burden
and the heat of the day. But he answered one of them and said, ‘Friend, I am
doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius?” (Matthew 20:12-14).
The men who were hired first were contented
with their wages at first, before there was anything or anyone to compare them
to. Then they did what many of us would have done and started complaining. They
had suddenly become discontented with the wages they were given because someone
else - who had worked less time - was receiving the same amount. This laborer
thought the vineyard owner was not being fair. “But he (the vineyard owner)
answered one of them and said, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not
agree with Me for a denarius?” (Matthew 20:13).
On many occasions, we have the same
attitude towards the Lord. As soon as we see others around us being treated
better than us (from our perspective), we become discontented with our
circumstances. Before we knew that someone else had better circumstances, we
were perfectly content with our present situation.
May
I give you a personal example? I live in a Long-Term Care Home. I have always been
a morning person; therefore, I like to get up as early as possible. As I am
unable to get up on my own, I have to wait until a Personal Support Worker
(PSW) comes and gets me ready for the day and transfers me into my wheelchair.
Many times, I see residents who were gotten up before me passing by my room. Very
often I have thoughts and feelings I am disappointed to have as a Christian. I
am constantly asking the Lord to forgive me and let me be thankful for
whatever time I get up.
A third hinderance to thanksgiving is self-pity or being self-absorbed. “Self-pity is having pity on oneself;
especially a self-indulgent attitude concerning one’s own difficulties.”
(Dictionary definition). There can be a number of reasons why we might feel
sorry for ourselves. When we are depressed or have lost hope, we may feel sorry
for ourselves. Solomon, in the book of Proverbs, says, “Where there is no
vision, the people perish; but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.” (Proverbs
29:18, King James Version). I think this is the best definition of self-pity and
depression.
This was the way I felt right after I
graduated from High School. I felt like my “life” was over. I did not have a
goal or vision to look forward to. At that time, “life” was like staring at a
blank wall. I admit that during my time of depression, which lasted three years,
I remember praying one day, “Lord, if this is all there is to life after High
School, then why did You let me live at birth?”
When we are in a state of self-pity or
depression, it is very hard to be thankful for anything or to anyone, including
the Lord. Most of the time, we blame the Lord, instead of being thankful to
Him. When I look back on that time of my life, I’m ashamed of the way I talked
to the Lord, and the ungrateful attitude I had towards the Lord and everyone
around me. “Looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest
any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled.”
(Hebrews 12:15).
Over the years I have learned, and continue
to learn, to be content and thankful in every situation. Paul even had to learn
contentment. “Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever
state I am, to be content.” (Philippians 4:11).
There are many other issues that may be
hinderances to keep us from being as thankful as we should be to the Lord, and
to those around us. May we practice thankfulness. It will help us feel more
grateful for what we have, and for what we are able to do. Our thankfulness will
bless those around us.
If you have a Bible, start reading in the
Gospel of John, the fourth book of the New Testament which explains who Jesus
is (the Word), how much He loves you, and what He has done for you in His life, death and resurrection.
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