Thankful Isn't the Same as Happy

Some of you are dreading Thanksgiving this year.

Not the turkey. The question. Somebody at the table is going to say, "Let's go around & share what we're thankful for." You'll sit there thinking, Honestly? This year? I've got nothing.

If that's you, hear this first. Thankful isn't the same as happy.

The Verse We Get Wrong

1 Thessalonians 5:18 says, "Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."

We read that & hear, "Smile no matter what." Act fine. Post the pie picture. But look at the little word Paul chose. In all circumstances. Not for all circumstances.

You don't have to thank God for the diagnosis. You don't have to thank Him for the layoff, the divorce papers or the empty chair at the table. Paul isn't asking you to call bad things good.

He's asking you to find God in the middle of them.

A Farmer With Nothing

Paul wasn't the first to figure this out. Hundreds of years earlier a prophet named Habakkuk watched his nation fall apart. At the end of his book he writes one of the bravest lines in the Bible.

Habakkuk 3:17–18 says, "Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food... yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior."

That's not a harvest festival. That's a man standing in an empty field.

Nothing grew. Nothing worked. He still says one word: yet.

Happy Depends on the Harvest

Here's the difference. Happy depends on what's in the field. Thankful depends on who's in charge of the field.

Happy says, "Things are good, so I'm grateful." Thankful says, "Things are hard, but God is still good, so I'm grateful."

Happiness is a feeling that comes & goes with the weather. Gratitude is a decision you make about God before the weather changes.

That's why Paul can call it God's will. You can't command a feeling. You can choose where you look.

What Gratitude Does to You

Gratitude doesn't change your circumstances. It changes your grip on them.

When you thank God in the hard place, you're saying out loud that this pain isn't the whole story. You're reminding your own heart that God has been faithful before & He hasn't changed.

Complaining makes the problem bigger every time you say it. Thanksgiving makes God bigger every time you say it.

Maybe you lost a lot this year. You didn't lose Him.

This Week

Here's my challenge. Before you sit down at any table this month, write down three things. One hard thing from this year you're not going to pretend away. One way God showed up in the middle of it. One thing you still have that you didn't earn.

Then when they go around the table, you won't have to fake it. You can be honest & thankful at the same time.

You don't have to be thankful for everything. You get to be thankful in everything.

Can I invite you to borrow Habakkuk's word this week, even if your field looks empty? Yet.