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Faith with Thankfulness for the Taking

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I Thessalonians 5:18 [NIV]

Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

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This is a story from the U.S.

There once was a very outstanding young man, named Hamks.

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The young man worked in the mines. He was a very hard worker.

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One day, there occurred a fatal mining accident.

Due to the accident, Hamks got severely wounded.

His eyes were blinded and he lost both of his arms.

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Hamks became handicapped due to his fatal injuries, so he thought himself good for nothing.

So he attempted to take his life several times but every time the plan failed.

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He had no willpower to overcome his circumstances, so he attempted to commit suicide once again. At that time, he heard that a professor of a famous Yale University in the U.S. would preach.

He decided to attend there.

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The professor preached, “Everyone has a mission appointed from God.”

Many people were impressed by the sermon.

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After the lecture, Hamks went to meet the preacher.

He asked to the preacher, “I can’t see and I have no arms.

Do you think God gave a mission to such as me?”

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As the professor heard his question, he stood staring at Hamks and then after a moment he replied, “Think of the things that God has left for you. Don’t you still have a mouth, ears, and feet? You can still give glory to God without eyes and arms but with the things that you do have.

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Hamks was deeply touched by the professor’s reply.

So, when he arrived back home, he repented of all of his sins praying with thankfulness.“Oh my Lord, forgive me for not acknowledging that I still have a mouth, ears, and feet. From now on, I will live for God’s glory with my mouth, ears, and feet that I got left.

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Then, Hamks studied really hard in the well-known Stanford University.

After his graduation, he became a famous deeply affecting lecturer within the U.S.

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If he had kept moaning about his lost eyes and arms, he would have ended up committing suicide.

But the faith with thankfulness made him a great lecturer giving lots of people a desire and a dream of their own.

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Another example is about the Thanksgiving Day story. The “First” Thanksgiving Day was when the Puritans crossed over to the U.S. cultivated the soil and held a worship service for the plentiful grain harvest that was reaped.

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They lost lots of people who tried to come to the U.S. together.

But they thanked God for the people who were left and the harvest that had been reaped.

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For this faith with thankfulness, God let the descendants of the Puritans build the U.S. and now they have influenced lives all over the world. God rejoices over people who are thankful in any circumstance.

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Paul’s letter to the church of the Thessalonians said,

“Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

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He also said, “I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.”

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Believers in Jesus shouldn’t complain because God will make them win in any circumstance just like He did for Hamks and for the Puritans.

He is able to exchange their distress into their delight.

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So then, all of you, friends in Jesus, have the faith with thankfulness. Repeat after me in a loud voice.“My Lord, thank you for giving me life. Thank you for giving me parents. Thank you for letting me go to school. Thank you for my belief in Jesus.”Don’t you know there are lots of things to appreciate? From now on, I want you to overflow with thankfulness.