Lesson Twelve
GIVING THANKS ALWAYS
(Chapter 14)
CENTRAL IDEA
When we face adversity, we can trust God. In fact, we must trust God. In addition, we should respond to adversity with thanksgiving, worship, humility, forgiveness, prayer, and a heart seeking only God’s glory.
Examining Trust
Because God is sovereign, wise, and good, we can trust Him. If we are to honor Him in our times of adversity, we must trust Him. In our trusting God, there is more at stake than experiencing peace in the midst of difficulties or even deliverance from them. The honor of God should be our chief concern. Therefore, our primary response to the trustworthiness of God should be, “I will trust God.” But there are some corollary responses to trusting God that are also important. They provide tangible evidence that we are in fact trusting God.
The first corollary response we will consider is thanksgiving. Paul said to “give thanks in all circumstances” (1 Thessalonians 5:18). We are to be thankful in bad times and good times, for adversities as well as for blessings. Thanksgiving is an admission of dependence. Through it we recognize that in the physical realm God “gives [us] life and breath and everything else” (Acts 17:25), and that in the spiritual realm, it is God who made us alive in Christ Jesus when we were dead in our transgressions and sins.
The basis for giving thanks in the difficult circumstances is the firm belief that God is at work in all things—all circumstances—for our good. It is the willingness to accept this truth from God’s Word and rely upon it without having to know just how He is working for our good.
We can see a very close connection between the promise of Romans 8:28 and the command of 1 Thessalonians 5:18, when we understand the literal translation of the words in all circumstances is “in everything.” In the Greek, as in the English language, the words and meanings are very, very close. We are to give thanks in everything because we know that in all things God is at work for our good.
Another response to the trustworthiness of God is to worship Him in times of adversity. Worship involves a two-directional view. Looking upward we see God in all His majesty, power, glory, and sovereignty as well as His mercy, goodness, and grace. Looking at ourselves we recognize our dependence upon God and our sinfulness before Him.
A third response to adversity is humility. “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:6-7). On the one hand we are to humble ourselves under God’s mighty hand—an expression equivalent to submitting with a spirit of humility to God’s sovereign dealings with us. And on the other hand, we are to cast our anxieties on Him, knowing that He cares for us. The anxieties, of course, arise out of the adversities that God’s mighty hand brings into our lives. We are to accept the adversities but not the anxieties.
Our tendency is just opposite. We seek to escape from or resist the adversities but all the while cling to the anxieties that they produce. The way to cast our anxieties on the Lord is through humbling ourselves under His sovereignty and then trusting Him in His wisdom and love. Humility should be both a response to adversity and a fruit of it.
Adversity often comes to us through the actions of other people. Sometimes those hurtful actions are deliberately directed at us. At other times we may be the victim of another person’s irresponsible actions that, though not deliberately aimed at us, nevertheless affect us seriously. Therefore, the fourth response to adversity we must consider is forgiveness.
I have found that two truths help me forgive others. First, I myself am a sinner, forgiven by the grace of God and the shed blood of His Son. I have hurt others, perhaps not so often deliberately but unconsciously through an uncaring spirit or selfish actions. Second, I seek to look beyond the person who is only the instrument to see God who has purposed this adversity for me.
A fifth response to adversity is to pray for deliverance. A spirit of humble acceptance toward God or forgiveness toward others does not mean we should not pray for deliverance from the adversities that come upon us. We should pray for deliverance, and we should learn to resist the attacks of Satan in the power of Jesus Christ. But we should always pray in an attitude of humble acceptance of that which is God’s will.
Above all else, our response to adversity should be to seek God’s glory. We see this attitude illustrated in the life of the apostle Paul during his imprisonment in Rome. Not only was he imprisoned, but there were men, supposedly fellow ministers of the gospel, who were actually trying to add to his troubles by their preaching (Philippians 1:14-17). Paul’s response (verse 18) is essentially, “It really doesn’t matter what happens to me or how I am affected by all of this. The important thing is what happens to the gospel.”
We have seen that God is trustworthy. He is absolutely sovereign over every event in the universe, and He exercises that sovereignty in an infinitely wise and loving way for our good. To the foundation of a life lived in communion with God, we must add what we have learned about God in this book—about His sovereignty, wisdom, and love. We must lay hold of these great truths in the little trials as well as the major calamities of life. As we do this in dependence upon the enabling power of His Holy Spirit, we will be able more and more to say, “I can trust God.”
Developing Trust
1. a. Read Luke 17:11-19. What two human responses to a blessing are illustrated in this event?
b. According to Acts 17:24-25 and 1 Corinthians 4:7, why should we be thankful?
c. Do you have a thankful attitude toward God most of the time, not often enough, or rarely? Explain.
d. Write a prayer asking God to help you have a more grateful spirit.
2. a. What does Romans 8:28 say about God working in our lives?
b. How does Romans 8:28 help us fulfill 1 Thessalonians 5:18?
3. a. What was Job’s reaction to the loss of his children and property? Read Job 1:13-21.
b. What is worship? (A Bible dictionary might be helpful.)
c. What specifically helps you to enter into a spirit of worship?
4. a. Read 2 Corinthians 12:7. Why was Paul given a thorn in the flesh?
b. Has God ever used an adversity in your life to counteract your pride? If so, describe the situation.
c. Why does God cherish humility in us (see James 4:6)?
d. What are major sources of pride in your life?
e. How can you change the areas where you are proud into areas of humility?
5. a. How does humility help us deal with mistreatment from other people?
b. Do you have a hard time forgiving others? Explain.
6. a. What sort of attitude is pleasing to God when we pray for deliverance from some adversity?
b. Is there ever a point at which we need to stop praying for deliverance? If so, how do we know when we have reached that point? If not, why not?
7. Of the six responses discussed in “Examining Trust”—thanksgiving, worship, humility, forgiveness, prayer, and a heart seeking only God’s glory—which one is the most difficult for you? Why is this so?
8. Look at Isaiah 42:8. How can your actions better show that glorifying God is your top priority?
9. What are the most important ideas you have gained from this study?
Trust in Action