Continuing our meditation on 1 Thess 5 and thankfulness to God.
Rejoice always, 17pray without ceasing, 18give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 19Do not quench the Spirit. 20Do not despise prophecies, 21but test everything; hold fast what is good. 22Abstain from every form of evil.
23Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.
This passage is focusing our minds, hearts and lives on all the benefits of living close to the heart and character of God. The context is pervading evil, encircling our lives and circumstances. Maybe you and I can lose sight of the intense reality of our world so hostile to God. When life is comfortable, our hearts can be tempted to think that life is "good". We ask people how they are, and the response is "I'm good, thanks!"
In countercultural closeness to God, however, the follower of Jesus sees that badness is exposed in the radiance and reality of God. Think of John 3:19-21. The evil of our hearts must be exposed for redemption to take place. The motive of God in exposing evil is love and holiness. So for the one who lives close to God. We look in our hearts and see that we are more sinful than we ever understood, but more loved than we ever dreamed, that in himself, God has taken it upon himself to pay for the evil we are yet to even recognise in its reality, extremity and infiltration. When the bible says our hearts are wicked beyond our understanding and deceitful above all things (Jeremiah 17:9), it is reminding us that without God no good thing exists, no redemption, no comprehension of rescue, no loving remedy for the things we can't even see which cause us eternal danger and devastation (never mind fix.) Part of our sin is that we don't want to see bad in ourselves or others. We are bent on wanting to believe a reality which is better than it really is.
In the church and society, Christians then may be tempted to not attend to reality, in order to be seen as more palatable, "normal" or acceptable. Those closest to God, however, have an inbuilt antenna to such (post-new-birth) that says this is not what we are made for; this is not as the world should be; we long for an eternal place where these issues are dealt with without exception or escape.
Is it a comfortable place to live close to God? The more we see His holiness, the more we see our sin. The more we see the mess of our world, the more we realise our inability to solve it. Brothers and sisters we dearly love in the new community occasionally show they are not quite as like Jesus as we hoped. No, it is not a comfortable place to live close to God, but it is a good place.
This is why, when circumstances surround us , and everything can feel dark, we can still give thanks. In the 3 days after the death of Christ, it felt like evil had won over the disciples and, for them, as if Christ had been engulfed by the powers of the enemy and his strategic evil. But God's perspective was so different. Those close to God see the reality of his unchanging promises by faith: that he never lies, he never breaks from GOODNESS, that all his plans and promises are Yes and Amen. He will remain faithful when we are not; he will demonstrate his wisdom over all things, his sovereignty over all circumstances for his ultimate purposes. So, we can give thanks. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. He alone understands our hearts. He alone provides the solution, and it is himself. He remains the only hope for you and me, our local church, international church, the church of all generations and all peoples.
Give thanks in an evil world that the Lamb reigns.
There is a place of alienation from God (Romans 1:21). It is evidence of our alienation from God that we are unable to see him, his purposes and unable to thank Him. When the Lord Jesus was rejected (Matthew 11:20-24), because evil pervaded him, he was able to give thanks that it happened within the purposes of God (Matt 11:25), that closeness to God made sense of a senseless world. "I thank you, Father, ..."
Give thanks in a sad world that His grace brings Joy beyond our understanding.
We live in a world of sorrow. The Lord Jesus was about to break bread. He stood with the closest to him, yet even they seemed in the dark and ready to jump ship. He was predicting his suffering and death; he was trying to help them understand, but they were struggling. He was demonstrating the wisdom of God, but they had foolish eyes and struggled to see. Yet as he took the bread and saw overwhelming suffering and trauma on the horizon... He GAVE THANKS. Brokenness showed grace. Like us, the disciples couldn't see the magnitude of joy, peace, and cosmic redemption that was being played out in apparent weakness, total surrender and humility. So it is for us as we go through a sorrow-filled world in the redemptive plans of Christ if we respond in faith and closeness to him.
Give thanks, for this is the will of God.
The Holy Spirit is the joy-giver. In all circumstances, as we surrender to God's Macro plan and prioritise the building of his kingdom, we have the joy of knowing His provision in all circumstances. As we seek his kingdom alone, we see that we do not need to worry about the micro contingencies he is taking care of (Matt 6:8, 25ff). God's design is a plan of grace. He reveals himself by giving us faith to see (Romans 1:17; Hebrews 11:3) and eyes to see. By His grace we see His goodness and grace, which outshines our dark world. He delights to show us His goodness in the context of our world and circumstances. (Phil 2:13, Eph 5:17) to illuminate our hearts to respond with joy (Eph 6:6), to serve in the reality and power of His presence and the closeness of his help (PS 46, Isaiah 59:1)
He wants for us this intimacy (Matthew 12:50). He wants for us this unshakable awareness that He is with us, his family of faith, that HE is in control and we move and live and have our being in Him. This is who we are in His plans, the people He is with. We are here by His plan and presence, and we are one day further into abiding with him forever 1 John 2:17).
I pray that whatever circumstances you are reading this in, whatever the extent of darkness you feel and see the reality of today, your eyes are lifted to see His greater reality, who He is. However lonely you may feel, may Christ minister to you the peace which passes all understanding, that He is with you as you surrender in faith to the one who is the eternal friend, closer than any human relationship (Proverbs 18:24), more aware of you and your struggle than any human companion. His commitment to you is indestructible. This world will pass. To all evil we can say, "this too shall pass" (because of Christ). What will remain is Him and His love for us, so we give thanks with every fibre of our being. Hallelujah, what a saviour.
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