Thankfulness?

Today I have the privilege of delivering an answer to prayer. A refugee we know was a tailor in his home country, but his lack of English skills prevent him from employment here. Instead, he is sewing garments for those who cannot find or afford the styles they want to wear. He needed a new machine and God directed me to a friend who gave him the exact model he hoped for. It required an accessory which has also been gifted to him and I am delighted to deliver it.

This man is thankful, not only to the donor that made this possible, but to the good and sovereign God that he worships. Being thankful is an important virtue. Those who are not grateful stand on a slippery slope easily sliding into sinful idolatry. Yet those who give thanks also need to remember the One who is the source of all goodness and give thanks.

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. (James 1:17)

Jonathan Edwards said this about gratitude: “True gratitude or thankfulness to God for his kindness to us, arises from a foundation laid before, of love to God for what he is in himself; whereas a natural gratitude has no such antecedent foundation. The gracious stirrings of grateful affection to God, for kindness received, always are from a stock of love already in the heart, established in the first place on other grounds, viz. God’s own excellency.”

Piper explains that God is pleased when our first delight is the beauty and excellency of God’s character, not merely in the delight of His benefits. This is a subtle thing, yet I am aware how easily I can miss it and make the gift my focus rather than the Giver.

If I gave a gift to someone and they thanked me often for it but had no regard for me, I would feel insulted or at least disappointed — no matter how much that person said thanks. If my character or generosity did not give that person joy in being with me, I might feel used, as if I didn’t matter and was just a delivery person. 

I know the difference. God wants to be the foundation of my gratitude. This can happen only because of the Holy Spirit and the new life I have in Christ. Otherwise, offering thanksgiving is just an emotion that happens totally apart from loving the Giver. True gratitude thinks of the goodness of God — yet does not leave out joy in His gifts.

When we delivered that sewing machine, I remarked on the goodness of God. Then the man who received it said, “God is good all the time.” When we visited his home last week, one of his adult sons said the same thing. “God is good all the time.” Their example illustrates the point: delight in God is true gratitude.

PRAY: Jesus, I thank You for this family whose hearts are so filled with love for You that they would give thanks even if their dad had to keep using his beat-up old machine without getting this new model that You so graciously supplied. This is a good example that models worship of You and contentment, rather than relying on Your blessings to urge thankfulness. You truly are good — all the time. It is also true that You are not glorified if the foundation of my gratitude is the worth of Your gifts and not the excellency of You, the One who gives all good things. Amen.