To the unthankful that long to be

I will live and I die to declare…
Lord you are good and I will sing
Your mercy endures…its everlasting!
Lord you are good and I will sing of your great love

Lakewood Church Gospel

This message is for the one who longs to be a bundle of joyous thanks, but whose circumstance makes thankfulness a chore at best; an impossible mission at the decidedly worst. I am not referring to the ones who think the world should be grateful to them for gracing our planet with their presence (I doubt they would find this an interesting bit of thanksgiving literature!), or the one who is content to be unthankful. This is for those who do not feel that they are always as thankful to God as they should be and sincerely want to be thankful at all times. These ones know that there is a greater level of gratitude, they have been there before, they have tasted the tranquility of continuous thanksgiving, but there are times when it constantly eludes them. To these I say: There is yet hope. You can live life thankfully…especially when you don’t feel thankful.

Living life thankfully is not as easy as it sounds simply because life is filled with obstacles and forces with designs to suck all the thankfulness out of you. If life’s troubles do not get you, the devil will simply roll up his sleeves and go straight for your heart (There is nothing as sad as a seemingly blessed individual with little to show for by way of gratitude).

Many find themselves in extremely difficult situations and this sometimes makes them feel like they do not have much to be thankful for. They may know that they should be thankful, they may recall the verse that says “In all things thank God”, but this is difficult to put into practice. Others are somewhere in the middle. They have some problems but they know God has been good to them; still being thankful is not something that may always come naturally to them. When life deals them a disappointment, an absence of thanks lingers even as the wound festers. They know they can be better, they utter words of thanks but these sound hollow in their ears...

A life thankfully lived is there at your fingertips, but to live this life there is a prerequisite:


John 8:32- And you will know the truth, and the truth shall set you free

The Prerequisite:

The prerequisite for a life thankfully lived is the simple realization that you have everything to be thankful for. In the words of Rick Warren “If God never does anything else for you, he gave his son for you.” That alone deserves our eternal gratitude.

This fact is the basis of all that we hope for: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish but have everlasting life”. John 3:16

The truth that we have so much to be thankful for has been on my mind a lot lately as I finish reading the gospel according to Mark. The bible tells us that when his hour was near Jesus said to his disciples “My soul is extremely sorrowful unto death: Wait here and watch”.

And he went forward a little, and fell on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass him by. And he said “Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will but what thou wilt”. Mark 14 24:36


I highlighted this place in my bible because it showed me just how much pressure our lord was under as he carried the weight of a world of countless sins upon his shoulders.

And he died for us. Everyone alive is the luckiest one alive.

When you don’t feel thankful:

It is easy to be thankful when everything is going well, but I think your thankfulness can shine the brighter in the midst of difficult circumstances. When you get down, when you feel tired, when frustration sets in, I urge you to see it as a blessed opportunity to light the beacon of thanksgiving. Please, understand what I mean: When the sorrow and pain comes, when you do not understand why, when the day comes that darkens your spirit…let that day be your thanksgiving day! Take him at his word: Thank him in all things. This is a life thankfully lived.

My friend, thanks and worship are not always about “feelings”, but about truth. You know that God is good even if you do not feel it at the time. Make a conscious effort to thank him regardless of your circumstance and you will always be happy in your thanksgiving.

Happy thanksgiving!