The Joy of Thanksgiving

Colossians 3:12-16 Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. ¹³ Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. ¹⁴ And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

¹⁵ Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.

The life of the Christian is described in Colossians 3. Hiding in all the wealth of this chapter is a precious nugget of gold. It is found in verse 15: “…And be thankful.”

No matter the circumstances of your life. No matter you past or present reality, you have something for which to be thankful.

Habakkuk 3:17-19 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, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls,

¹⁸ yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.

¹⁹ The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights.

The prophet Habakkuk, born six centuries before Christ, struggled with the injustices of the Chaldean regime over the Jews. He lived in a day of violence and people turning away from their beliefs.

The symbolism cannot be overlooked. The fig tree represented prosperity. When the fields produced no food, people starved. No sheep or cattle in the pen meant no control over the animals.

Habakkuk could have become embittered. Yet he discovered that some times, even the worst times, may be God’s time for us to draw close to Him. What did Habakkuk discover he could do in a difficult day?

1. Rejoice in the Lord.

¹⁸ yet I will rejoice in the LORD,

The principle source of our joy in God is that He is the God of our salvation, and, we may rejoice in Him as such in our greatest trials, since by them our salvation cannot be hindered, but may be furthered.

1 Peter 1:6-7 NIV84 …you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. ⁷ These have come so that your faith — of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire — may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.

The trials we face in life are opportunities for our faith to be proved genuine.

James 1:2-4 NIV Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, ³ because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. ⁴ Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

We don’t often thank God for our trials, heartaches, and difficulties. Although we are willing to praise Him for His goodness, we sometimes fail to realize that even adverse circumstances are blessings in disguise.

What if we stop defining our blessings in terms of our circumstances?

When we count our blessings, we should include the weaknesses, the hardships, the burdens, and the trials we face. If we do, we might find that God has used our difficulties more than the “good” things to help us grow spiritually. Why is that? Because it is in those difficult places that we discover the sufficiency of His grace. In our trials, we turn to God. As we depend on Him, we find that His strength is made perfect in our weakness (2 Cor. 12:9).

Often people start a spiritual journey but lose their joy because they have lost sight of the objective. Habakkuk realized he had to focus his attention on God. The battle he now faced might be difficult, but focusing on God created more thanksgiving in his heart.

Philippians 3:1 NLT Whatever happens, my dear brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord. I never get tired of telling you these things, and I do it to safeguard your faith.

It is the duty of Christians to rejoice in the Lord Jesus Christ. This duty implies the following things:

We should rejoice that we have a savior who:

Can deliver us from sin;

Can save our soul from death;

Can rescue us from all danger, and bring us into safety;

Makes known the way to salvation;

Provides atonement;

Brings peace to a troubled life;

Is our constant support in trials and tribulations;

Comforts us when we grieve.

Our joy should be in the Lord. We should find our happiness not in riches, or vanity, or ambition, or books, or in the world in any form, but in communion with the Lord Jesus, and in the hope of eternal life through Him.

We have more reasons than anyone else to rejoice. As we have contact with the world, we should leave them with the impression that our heart is full of joy.

Philippians 4:4 NLT Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again – rejoice!

It is our privilege to rejoice, not a certain times or at distant intervals, but at all times!

Christians should be joyful people. Because when everything around us changes, Jesus does not change. We always have reason to rejoice.

2. Be joyful over your Savior.

¹⁸ yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.

Habakkuk noted, “I will be joyful in God my Savior.”

When people fill a stadium and become quite excited, even ecstatic, in their enthusiasm over a sporting event, we see that as normal. Yet when someone expresses exhilaration about faith in God, we call that person a fanatic. Have we forgotten the words of Jesus, John 15:11 “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete”?

Jesus words most likely tell of the happiness He had due to the disciples obedience, love and loyalty. Their obedience to him was a source of joy.

Hebrews 12:2 NKJV looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

His joy was fulfilling the will of the Father.

“Joy is the byproduct of obedience.” —unknown

[Your joy may be complete] That you might be set free from your hopelessness and grief that I’m leaving. That you might see why I have to leave and let the Holy Spirit comfort you and sustain you in your times of trial.

Jesus set the example for us all: Matthew 26:27-28 NKJV Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. ²⁸ For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

He thanked His heavenly Father for “the cup” of his suffering, for the offering of His body in death and the pouring out of His blood in sacrifice. In other words, He thanked His father for his suffering, crucifixion, and death.

Matthew 26:36-39 NKJV Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to the disciples, “Sit here while I go and pray over there.” ³⁷ And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed. ³⁸ Then He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me.”

³⁹ He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.”

Hebrews 5:7-10 NIV During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. ⁸ Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered ⁹ and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him ¹⁰ and was designated by God to be high priest in the order of Melchizedek.

Jesus learned obedience by His sufferings.

Jesus earthly life was not a script that He carefully followed. He willingly chose to obey the will of the Father, even when that obedience led to suffering.

Our way is to complain about the hard things in life.

Sometimes the will of God may lead to hardships.

It takes love and surrender to say to him, “Thy will be done!” It takes drawing a bigger circle around life and its circumstances to give Him thanks.

Psalm 23:4 NKJV Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil;

For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

Romans 8:28 NIV And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

Galatians 6:9 NIV Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

1 Thessalonians 5:16 NLT Always be joyful.

Romans 12:11-12 NIV Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. ¹² Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

Habakkuk 3:18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.

Habakkuk learned to be thankful for his Savior. Giving thanks to God for his salvation helped him to overcome the difficulties he faced.

3. Receive the strength of God.

¹⁹ The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights.

Inner strength sustains us in times of trouble. Habakkuk saw God as his strength. The word used by the writer means strong, firm, and durable—the type of strength that will enable us to run like a deer or climb to new heights like wild sheep. We need to claim God’s power for our lives.

Psalm 18:32-33 NIV It is God who arms me with strength and keeps my way secure. ³³ He makes my feet like the feet of a deer; he causes me to stand on the heights.

Psalm 27:1 NIV The LORD is my light and my salvation — whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life — of whom shall I be afraid?

Psalm 46:1 NIV God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.

Isaiah 12:2 NIV Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The LORD, the LORD himself, is my strength and my defense; he has become my salvation."

Nehemiah 8:10 NIV Nehemiah said, "… for the joy of the LORD is your strength."

Psalm 28:7-8 NIV The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and he helps me. My heart leaps for joy and with my song I praise him. ⁸ The LORD is the strength of his people, a fortress of salvation for his anointed one.

Ephesians 6:10 NIV Finally, be strong in the LORD and in his mighty power.

2 Corinthians 12:7-10 NIV84 To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. ⁸ Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. ⁹ But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. ¹⁰ That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.