As we continue our focus on thanksgiving this week, today’s focus is: Being Thankful in All Circumstances. As leaders we do end up facing all kinds of circumstances–the good, the bad and everything in between. Over the past couple of weeks, I have been on a rollercoaster when it comes to my leadership. We have experienced an incredible blessing as folks have responded to our “Yes! Initiative,” a three-year campaign to expand our generosity and raise funding for the construction of our Children’s Nurture and Discipleship Center. We have also experienced a handful of challenging circumstances as well.
If you’re a leader, you know what it’s like to be celebrating one minute, and doing all you can to keep a positive outlook the next. It’s easy to be thankful for the moments of celebration, not so much when it comes to the unexpected and unwanted surprises that come our way. So how do we be thankful in the negative circumstances, in those time when someone we trusted lets us down, or when the big deal we knew was a sure thing, falls through?
The Apostle Paul gave an answer to those of us who are people of faith in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18. He told us to always be joyful, to pray without ceasing, and to give thanks to God in all circumstances. That triad of joy, prayer and thanksgiving are the key to moving forward in a healthy way in those times when we don’t think it’s possible. Paul was not telling us to deny our circumstances, paste a smile on our faces, pray as if nothing is wrong, and thank God for the train wrecks we go through in our lives. He was saying when we put God first in our lives, we can have joy, meaning a sense of well-being, even when the circumstances have turned totally against us. When we can’t maintain our joy, we pray. We pray for God to fill us with the Holy Spirit. We pray for God to overcome the circumstance. We pray for new strength. We pray for miracles.
I’ve been on the receiving end of God’s responses to prayer enough times in my life that I tend to pray at the first sign of negative circumstances, and even through them. When I do that I am able to give thanks in the circumstance, not necessarily for the circumstance, but in it. After all, it would be ludicrous to thank God for some of the terrible things that happen in our lives, but we can thank God in the midst of them if we know He has our best interest at heart. That’s a big if, isn’t it? Some people don’t believe God exists, so they certainly don’t believe He’s in the midst of our dire circumstances. But when we do believe in God’s existence and presence in our lives, we can trust that He will see us through the circumstances that would break us otherwise.
How are you doing at being thankful in all circumstances? Think of the best and worst situations in your life right now. How do you respond when you get to experience the best circumstance? What about the worst one? Are you thankful in each? Are you able to separate the events from your feelings about them, and be thankful regardless. Over time, one of the greatest indicators of long-term success is an ability to be grateful in all circumstances, not just the good ones.
Here’s to being better leaders, by being thankful in all our circumstances–today!