“…give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”  (1 Thessalonians 5:18).

I’m sure many of us have heard this Bible verse before.  I’ll confess, I’ve fallen way short of heeding it’s all-encompassing scope – “all circumstances”.  It seems like I’ve been closer to writing my own line of scripture lately – “give complaint in all bad circumstances, because it just feels better to do it.”

I don’t know about you, but it is certainly a struggle sometimes to truly be thank-ful in every circumstance.  While we do have so much to be thankful for, it is easy to have your gracious gaze clouded by all the annoyances, inconveniences, and down-right sufferings we often endure in this life.

I was reading lately about one somewhat obscure Christian mystic of history named Julian of Norwich  (now, “mystic” does not imply magic here – it refers to Christ-followers throughout history who have excelled at “experiencing” the love and presence of God in Christ and sharing that devotionally with other Christ-followers).

Julian of Norwich lived in the 14^th Century.  Now, in case you didn’t know, the 14^th Century was pretty awful.  According to one writer, “It would be difficult to decide which century in the history of western civilization was more calamitous, the twentieth or the fourteenth.  In both, it seemed, everything that could go wrong did go wrong.”  The black plague ravaged civilization, leaving as many as 1 in 3 people dead from India to Iceland.  Wars consumed more lives, as well as horrible weather conditions which destroyed crops and caused mass starvation.  On top of this, there were seemingly hopeless divisions in the church as both kings and popes were consumed by corruption and disregard for the general welfare of people.   So, yeah…fun times, right?

And then comes Julian of Norwich, right in the middle of all this misery.  As if life in general wasn’t bad enough, Julian experienced her own deep suffering with a near-death experience with sickness.  However, right in the middle of this sickness as death is panting ravenously for her, God gives her a series of revelations (what she would refer to as “showings”) – visions concerning the suffering passion of Christ and the burning passionate love that drove Him to such suffering for us.  Almost immediately following these “showings”, Julian regains her strength and shrugs off the sickness that nearly killed her.  The rest of Julian’s life and writings would be devoted to understanding and explaining these revelations, and encouraging others to become consumed with nothing else but the incredible love of Jesus.

In her most famous work, “Revelations of Divine Love”, Julian ends with a lengthy “thank you” to God for His love and kindness.   She leaves us also with this amazing summary (which I have paraphrased into more modern English):

“What I learned in all this is that love is our Lord’s meaning.  I saw completely that before God made us, He loved us.  His love has never run out, nor will it ever.  In this love, He has done all His works.  And in this love, He has made all things gain to us.  And in this love, our life is everlasting.  While we have a ‘beginning’, His love is without beginning or end.  This love is our beginning.  And all this we shall see in God, Himself, who is without end.   Thanks be to God.”

Julian of Norwich was able to look at all the horrible situations in her life and in her world, and look through them – like a laser beam through foggy mist – to see an Almighty, and all-loving God who gave Himself in Christ Jesus for us.  To this mighty, loving God, she unapologetically says “Thank You – you are GOOD”.

How about you?  How about me? Can we do the same today?  My challenge to all of us is to not only enjoy the family, the food, and perhaps the game on TV, but to look through all this, and especially the junk in our lives, to grab hold of the gracious love of our Savior, and to give Him our full devotion, our full burning love, and our fully heartfelt “thanks”.   Maybe that’s really what Paul meant in that verse from 1 Thessalonians.

Wishing and Praying your Thanksgiving is full of thanks-giving to Jesus : )
In HIM<
Jeremy

P.S.  for you history nerds out there (like me), check out this short “history of Thanksgiving Day” video – to see the Christian roots of this holiday.  Good stuff  :)
http://www.history.com/videos/thanksgiving-becomes-a-holiday