99. Summer Sermons - The Subtle Power of Thankfulness - Jon Hollifield

Welcome to the For Freedom Podcast. This podcast exists to bring the freedom of the gospel for everyday Christians with everyday issues. Now here are your hosts, John Holyfield and James Safer. Alright, you can take your Bibles and open up to 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. Our nursery workers are heading out, so if you would like to utilize that, that is more than welcome to. You don't have to, but they are leaving now. And we are going to go to 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. My heart was sort of geared towards this topic last week. God gave me something while I was mowing. I listened to messages and that type of thing while I mow. And it just really encouraged me and helped me. And then I knew that this is the direction I was going to be going this week, this Sunday. And so as I worked on this and prepared this and meditated on these thoughts, I don't know if you've ever experienced this, but it seems that whenever you work on something or you know you're about to present on something, that seems where you have the most challenging week in that area. And so I say that because I say that as I come to this, this Sunday, this time, this hour, to present this message to you, I feel like that I'm probably the most unworthy to do so this morning. Because the very topic that I am presenting this morning has also been something that I've struggled with this week. And you will understand this because I am going to be giving a story to explain a little bit of that. But I'm reminded of the pastor that I had growing up used to tell a story of an old preacher named Vance Havner who got up in front of his congregation one morning and said, If you really knew who I was, you would not stay a moment in your seat to listen to me. But hold up, Hoss, before you get up and leave, if I really knew who you were, I wouldn't waste my time. So if we could all just accept the fact that we are all in process of growing more like Christ, let us go to God's Word this morning. And this thought, I'm going to begin with this verse and then we're going to look at a couple ideas. 1 Thessalonians chapter number 5. And here in 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, Paul, preaching or giving his letter to this group, he is finishing up the letter and giving some exhortations to the congregation there at Thessalonica. And he says many things that you've probably heard several times. He says that verse 15, see no one renders evil for evil to anyone but always pursue that, what is good both for yourselves and for all. He says in verse 16, rejoice always. He says in verse 17, pray without ceasing. Then he says this in verse 18, In everything, give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. In everything, give thanks. In everything, give thanks. Thankfulness, thanksgiving, or maybe we could say gratitude, may just be the most neglected power provided for the Christian today. I really do believe that as I've studied this, as I've understood this topic so progressively over the last two years, I really think that this is neglected. A lot of things are hit, but we tend to just really relegate this to Thanksgiving time, right? You hear your Thanksgiving message in November, and that's about it. And so we've sort of categorized it for the 11th month of the year, and then, oh yeah, we're supposed to be thankful, but never really understanding and utilizing that as how it's supposed to be a part of our everyday life and seeing how it transforms our heart to grow more like Christ. Significant emphasis is given in the Scriptures for the role of giving thanks in the believer's life and the impact that it can have as well. Before we dive into this, however, we need to set a foundation for where we are going. The very term itself suggests a few things. Thanksgiving or thankfulness. And it must be understood. It suggests, number one, there is someone to offer this gratitude towards. Get that. To say that you're thankful or giving thanks or thanksgiving or thankfulness suggests that there is someone that you are sending this idea of thanks to. Number two, there is something for which you are offering your gratitude for. In other words, let me explain it this way. There is an object of the thanksgiving and a subject for which you are thankful for. So just to say, I'm thankful, we can't say this empty-minded, right? We can't just say, oh, I'm thankful for that. Well, who are you thankful to? And what are you thankful for? Because this has become such a part of our culture, I think, that even non-believers, Christians, say all the time, they're thankful. And it has always made me curious. To whom are they thankful? And for what are they thankful? This week, while I was in Murfreesboro at work, I stopped over at Barnes & Noble. I know, not a treasure trove of jewels, right? But I was looking for something, and then I was walking through one of the book aisles, and I was just curious. Sometimes I get curious, like, what is on the shelves? And it was fascinating to me that as I was walking through, I was noticing a lot of the titles on this one shelf right here, and it was about narcissism and how to protect from a narcissist and how to help a narcissist. And I was like, man, there's a lot of books about narcissism. And then I turned around. This literally, I was almost busted out laughing at Barnes & Noble. I turned around, and on the other bookshelf corresponding to that, it was book after book after book on self-love. How to achieve greater self-love. And I'm like, look, it's make yourself a narcissist, and then how to defend yourself from a narcissist. It's like the disconnect in our culture. But that is the message that is shot out. I actually looked some of this up as my curiosity grew in this and found this, literally, this was what the website was, the head of the article was, a prayer of self-gratitude. Think about that. It is teaching someone how to pray a prayer to yourself on being thankful for yourself. I want to read it for you this morning, if I can. Self-gratitude is the acknowledgement. Well, it's not the prayer. This is the explanation of what this is. Self-gratitude is the acknowledgement and appreciation of what one has as opposed to deserving. I commented, the only thing you have apart from what God has given you is a depraved nature that desires to rebel against a holy God. I wonder what you have that you should be thankful for. The definition of gratitude is the quality of being thankful, readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness. Therefore, to be grateful, one must first recognize what they have. Self-gratitude means understanding and appreciating all that we have and the good in our lives. Nothing you have that is good in your life came from you. So therefore, thanking yourself is thievery. It is stealing the deserved praise that should go to the one who has provided it for you. They continue, it's a way to take control of our thoughts about ourselves. Self-gratitude is not just about what we do or how we look, but about who we are inside. Well, Romans 3 gives us some instruction about that. It says, None is righteous, no, not one. No one understands. No one seeks for God. All have turned aside. Together they have become worthless. No one does good, not even one. Their throat is an open grave. They use their tongues to deceive. The venom of asps or serpents is under their lips. Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood, and their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes. Genesis 6.5 says, The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every inclination and thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. I believe their concept of self-thankfulness is bankrupt, especially when we compare it to the truth of God's Word. But as we are delving into this subject of thankfulness, and we approach this idea of biblical thankfulness, I think after that we need a biblical cleansing, if you will. So stay with me as I read some scriptures on the idea or the truth of thankfulness or thanksgiving from the Word of God. 1 Chronicles 16.8 O give thanks to the Lord, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the peoples. 16.34 O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever. Verse 35 Psalm 7.17 Psalm 9.1 Psalm 9.1 Psalm 10.18 will recount all your wonderful deeds. Psalm 26, 7, proclaiming thanksgiving aloud and telling all your wondrous deeds. Psalm 28, 7, the Lord is my strength and my shield. In him, my heart trusts and I am helped. My heart exults and with song, with my song, I give thanks to him. Psalm 30, verse 4, sing praises to the Lord. Oh, you, his saints and give thanks to his holy name. Verse 12, that my glory may sing your praise and not be silent. Oh, Lord, my God, I will give thanks to you forever. Psalm 33, 2, give thanks to the Lord with the lyre, make melody to him with the harp of ten strings. Psalm 44, 8, and God, we have boasted continually and we will give thanks to your name forever. Psalm 50, verse 14 and 15, offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving and perform your vows to the most high. Call upon me in the day of trouble. I will deliver you and you shall glorify me. Psalm 50, verse 23, the one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me. The one who orders his way rightly, I will show the salvation of God. Psalm 54, 6, with a freewill offering, I will sacrifice to you. I will give thanks to your name. Oh, Lord, for it is good. Psalm 57, 9, I will give thanks to you. Oh, Lord, among the peoples, I will sing praises to you among the nations. Psalm 69, 30, I will praise the name of God with a song. I will magnify him with thanksgiving. Psalm 75, 1, we give thanks to you. Oh, God, we give thanks for your name is near. We recount your wondrous deeds. Psalm 79, 13, but we, your people, the sheep of your pasture, will give thanks to you forever from generation to generation. We will recount your praise. Psalm 86, 12, I give thanks to you. Oh, Lord, my God, with my whole heart, I will glorify your name forever. Psalm 92, 1, it is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to your name. Oh, most high. Psalm 95, 2, let us come into his presence with thanksgiving. Let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise. Psalm 97, 12, rejoice in the Lord, oh, you righteous, and give thanks to his holy name. Then there's Psalm 100. Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth. Serve the Lord with gladness. Come into his presence with singing. Know that the Lord, he is God. It is he who made us, and we are his. We are his people and the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise. Give thanks to him. Bless his name. For the Lord is good. His steadfast love endures forever and his faithfulness to all generations. Psalm 105, 1, oh, give thanks to the Lord and call upon his name. Make known his deeds among the peoples. Psalm 106, 1, praise the Lord. Oh, give thanks to the Lord for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever. Verse 47, save us, oh Lord, our God, and gather us from among the nations that we may give thanks to your holy name and glory in your praise. Psalm 107, 1, okay, give thanks to the Lord for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever. If you have not caught on, that is a phrase that is repeated very, very often. What is one of the great reasons to give thanks to God? Because his steadfast love endures how long? Forever. Forever. Get a grip and get a concept of that steadfast love of God. Psalm 107, 22, and let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving and tell of his deeds and songs of joy. Psalm 108, 3, I will give thanks to you, oh Lord, among the peoples. I will sing praises to you among the nations. Psalm 109, 30, with my mouth, with my mouth, I will give thanks to the Lord. I will praise him in the midst of the throng. Psalm 111, 1, praise the Lord. I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart and the company of the upright in the congregation. Psalm 116, 17, I will offer to you the sacrifice of thanksgiving and call on the name of the Lord. Psalm 118, 1, oh, give thanks to the Lord for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever. Verse 19, open to me the gates of righteousness that I may enter through them with and give thanks to the Lord. And then verse 28, you are my God and I will give thanks to you. You are my God. I extol you. Oh, give thanks to the Lord for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever. Psalm 122, 4, to which the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord, as was decreed for Israel to give thanks to the name of the Lord. Psalm 136, 1, give thanks to the Lord for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever. Verse 2, give thanks to the God of gods, for his steadfast love endures forever. Verse 3, give thanks to the Lord of lords, for his steadfast love endures forever. Verse 26, give thanks to the God of heaven, for his steadfast love endures forever. Psalm 138, verse 1 and 2, I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart, before the gods I sing Your praise, I bow down toward Your holy temple and I give thanks to Your name for Your steadfast love and Your faithfulness. For You have exalted above all things Your name and Your Word. Verse 4, And all the kings of the earth shall give You thanks, O Lord, for they have heard the words of Your mouth. Psalm 140, verse 13, Surely the righteous shall give thanks to Your name, the upright shall dwell in Your presence. Psalm 142, verse 7, Bring me out of prison that I may give thanks to Your name. The righteous will surround me, for You will deal bountifully with me. Psalm 145, verse 10, All Your works shall give thanks to You, O Lord, and all Your saints shall bless You. Psalm 147, verse 7, Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving. Make melody to our God on the lyre. 2 Corinthians 2, verse 14 tells us, But thanks be to God. Why? Who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of Him everywhere. Wow! How many times have we let that thought get a hold of our minds as we go in public? That as we are going out, we are going out with the presence of God. And we are taking the presence of God into the public square. Oh, thank the Lord for that. 1 Timothy 4, verse 4, For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving. Well, that's a lot of verses on thanksgiving. I actually removed several. I hope you understand now, before we move to the next point, the importance of thanksgiving. How the Bible has put an emphasis. At least we just looked at the Psalms. Maybe a few verses here and there from Chronicles and the New Testament. We just looked at the Psalms and why thanksgiving is vital. Now I want to talk about the product of thankfulness. The product of thankfulness. And these are just a few points as I've studied this a little bit. I don't think this is an exhaustive list. I think that there is more things that you could view about the product. Now I'm just going to go at it from a perspective of spiritual truth. Years ago, I don't know if some of you remember this, but Pastor Steve used to preach a message on thanksgiving where he actually had an entire section. He spent about 15 minutes. Physicians have studied this. That those who have a heart of thanksgiving, those who have made thanksgiving part of their daily life and the effect that it had on their physical health. I'm not going to deal with that this morning, but it is beneficial to you. But the product of thankfulness. First of all, our struggle of sin should produce thankfulness. You think, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. This is the thing that I should be most frustrated with. I think you see that in Paul in Romans chapter 7. Romans chapter 7, verse 14, through the end of the chapter, what is he doing? He's sitting there talking about his struggle with sin, and he gets to the end of it, and he goes, what does he say? He says, O wretched man that I am. You see frustration there, right? But how does he end? Look at Romans 7, verse 25 says this. Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin. Our struggle with sin should point us to the fact that this is Christ's process of growing in us. And it should spur us on to thankfulness. Number two, thankfulness helps defeat sexual sin. I talked about this whenever we covered Ephesians 5 last year and our study in Ephesians, but let me just hit this really quick. Thankfulness helps defeat sexual sin. Ephesians 5, 3 and 4, but sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you as is proper among saints. Let there be no filthiness or foolish talk, nor crude joking, which are all out of place. All of those things put off. What do you replace it with? But instead, let there be thanksgiving. Let there be thanksgiving. What is the concept there? Think about that. Think about that. What is going on in the heart whenever sexual sin is warring with us? It is the idea we call this, we sum it up in a word called lust. Right? And what is lust? What is lust? Lust is I want what I don't have. Well, how does thankfulness combat that? I'm getting to my conclusion, so I'm giving it away already. Alright. Thankfulness says I am content with what God has provided for me. Number three. Thankfulness cures anxiety. What? Yeah. Thankfulness cures anxiety. Philippians 4. Philippians 4.6. Maybe you've heard this passage. Do not be anxious about anything. You know that, right? Don't be anxious about anything. Some of you probably say, I'm sick and tired of hearing people say, don't be anxious about anything. Well, finish the verse. But in everything. So put off the anxiety, put off the anxiousness about anything, but put on what? By prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving. Let your requests be made known to God. I was listening to just a session by David Pallison. I don't know. The name might mean something to some of you. It may mean nothing to many of you. But David Pallison said, you know what anxiety is? He said, it is temporary. He said, you have a mild case of atheism. And I laughed at that. He was like, say it like a doctor. You have a mild case of atheism. What it is, is in the moment that we let that anxiety hit us, and I say we, because I've been open about, even, I struggle with that sometimes. We let that going on at that moment, and we forget completely about who. That thing has become this in our eyes, and we're not thinking those slew of Psalms that we just read. Thankfulness cures anxiety. Number four, thankfulness strengthens your faith. Thankfulness strengthens your faith. Colossians 2.7, rooted and built up in Him, and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. Number five, thankfulness helps me enjoy my liberty in Christ. That's an odd one, right? But as I was studying through this, I was fascinated by this passage that I got, and I studied it out. I thought maybe this was saying one thing at one point. I studied the rest of the content. I was like, oh, that's what it's saying. Thankfulness helps me enjoy my liberty in Christ. 1 Corinthians 10.28, But if someone says to you, this has been offered in sacrifice, then do not eat it, for the sake of the one who informed you, and for the sake of conscience. Verse 29, I do not mean your conscience, but His. For why should my liberty be determined by someone else's conscience? That's a good question. Verse 30, If I partake with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of that for which I give thanks? So whether you eat, or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. You know that verse, don't you? But what is the context of it? What you had going on in this church were people that said, we were saved, and we, you know, were pagans, and we, you know, offered meat to idols when we were pagans, and we ate it. And then you had some in the church that were Jewish, and were like, no, that's against the law. We can't do that. We don't eat anything that's offered to idols. And so they're like, hey, will you come over to dinner? And so they're over there having a dinner, and they look around, and they're like, where'd you get this chicken? It's really good. Oh, well, it was offered at the local gods down there, but they were selling it the next day, so we got it. Isn't it great? What? What? I'm so offended. And these are the types of things that was going on within the church. And so Paul was like, let me help you out here. And so he's given some basic guidelines on how to deal with those who have a sensitive conscience, a weak conscience, and a strong conscience. And this is not the message to go into all of that. But he gets to this point, and he says this. He says, By the way, for those of you who have a strong conscience, and your liberty is not invoked, your liberty is not infringed upon by eating that meat, why? What is the motivation there that you should be able to have a strong liberty in Christ? And he says it's because of thankfulness. Because if you can eat that, and you can genuinely give thanks to God for it, by all means, partake. Now he gives instructions about not offending the one with the weaker conscience. And then he says what? He sums it up with what? Verse 31. So whether you eat the chicken that you think is really bad chicken, or you drink juice or wine, not going there, okay? Whatever you do, do all, to who? The glory of God. What is he saying? When it comes down to it, it all boils down to where is your heart in the area of thankfulness? thankfulness helps me enjoy my liberty in Christ. I've got two more. Generosity will produce thankfulness. Generosity will produce thankfulness. 2 Corinthians 9-11. You will be enriched in every way, to be generous in every way, which, through us, will produce thanksgiving to God. If you look at the whole of that passage in 2 Corinthians 9 from verse 1 all the way to verse 11, the instructions of the passage is all about giving and generosity within the church. And he says this is why you should be a generous believer. You should be a generous member in the church because what does it do? It will produce thanksgiving in your life. Grace. This is the last one I have. I've lost track of the number. Grace increases thanksgiving. This is the products of thankfulness. Grace increases thankfulness. 2 Corinthians 4-15. For it is all for your sake so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving to the glory of God. Alright, so this is where I want to move. So I wanted to give you a product of what thankfulness can do in your life. And so here's where I'm going to deal with the rubber meets road. This is point three or application. I don't know. It's a little bit of a homiletical mess if you will. Okay, but here we go. This is what I call this really bad title of this point. The connection of thankfulness. The connection of thankfulness. I didn't know what else to call it. But go with me here. Alright. Thankfulness is directly connected to contentment. thankfulness. Thankfulness is directly connected to contentment. The roller coaster of life always brings with it the subtle temptation to wish that things were different. Does it not? Think about it. Whether it's the big things or the little things, when those things happen that we wish didn't go that way, we begin to think why did it happen this way? Whether it's a massive family decision, whether it's a family mess up, whether it's this person doing this thing, whatever it is, or whether it is smoke detectors just not doing what they're supposed to do. I'm going to get to that in just a second. That frustration begins to work within, on side of us, a subtle temptation to think, I want things to be different instead of as they are. That whatever trial, hardship, difficulty, or inconvenience we are going through at the time, we wish it were different, this type of thinking sows the seeds of discontentment in our hearts which grows unthankfulness or ingratitude in our lives. This is the address where our struggle with thanksgiving lives. The area of contentment in our heart. Why? Two passages. Two passages. I read one. 1 Thessalonians 5, 18. And everything, give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Another one is Ephesians 5, 20. Ephesians 5, 20. Giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now what do these two verses point out that exposes what we're talking about here? It is one little word in Ephesians 5, 20. Two words in 1 Thessalonians 5, 18. We can sum it up this way. Giving thanks, what? Always. For all circumstances. Our struggle is between the already and the not yet finding contentment in the all circumstances of life. Whether it's the little things or the big things. So I want to talk to you first about the contentment and the little things. Philippians 4, 11. Paul says here, not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned, what did you learn, Paul? That in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low. I know how to abound. In any and every circumstances, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance, and need. Before I finish the point here, let me give you two encouragements of what Paul's saying here, so you don't get too discouraged about where you're at. Understand what Paul says. Number one, he learned this. This tells us two things. Number one, that Paul had achieved it. In his spiritual walk with Christ, he had achieved this contentment. Number two, he had to learn it. Which, I don't know about you, that is encouraging to me. Because it tells me this, there was a time in Paul's life where he wasn't there. And so if I feel like I'm not there, then I don't feel like I'm such bad company. Number two, it encouraged me because it also says that Paul learned this. This means I can learn this attitude of contentment. Jeremiah Burroughs, a Puritan who wrote the book The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment, said this, in a clock, stop but one wheel and you stop every wheel because they are dependent upon one another. So when God has ordered a thing for the present to be thus and thus, how do you know how many things depend upon this thing? God may have some work to do twenty years hence that depends on the passage of providence that falls out this day or this week. What a God-centered mindset. I struggled with that this week. There was a lot of things just happening. Like I said, I felt like everything was going on and this thing sort of happened, this thing sort of happened and the whole time in the back of my mind I'm like, you're preaching on thankfulness on Sunday. And I'm just like, and it's like, no, you're going to be dealing with this, are you going to be thankful in this? And it got the better of me because this thing happened, this thing happened, and then the girls come down in our house, we have the girls that are upstairs and our oldest girls, Madison and kids, and they have smoke detectors in their room and they're, you know how a smoke detector does whenever the battery goes low, it gets a chirp, really high-pitched, annoying noise. Beep. And so, I've been through this before, I know what's going on, okay, batteries are like, dad, it's bothering us, I'm like, okay. So, we go, we get batteries for it, by the time it's bedtime that night, I go up there, I start changing out the batteries. I change out the batteries in every single one, put it back in, there you go girls, everything's good, you can go to bed. 30 seconds later, beep, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, I know these are brand new batteries, I just opened up the package when I got them back from Lowe's, so what is the deal? And it's welling up inside of me, okay, so I'm like, okay, YouTube has all the answers. So I go to YouTube and I'm like, why does my smoke detector keep chirping? And the video said, well, you have to drain all the power out of the smoke detector, the remaining power before you put the new battery in, and it showed me how to do this, so it says you press the button, hold it for 15 seconds, that drains it out, then you put the new battery in. So I'm like, okay, I can do that. I go up there, disconnect all of them, pull the batteries out, press the button, do it, all right, that one's done, get it back in there, press the other one, I do all of that, get it back, I'll connect it, I'm like, all right, girls, you can go to bed, you're good, I go downstairs, dad is still chirping, I go back upstairs, it's still chirping, I'm like, well, which one's chirping? So we go stand under this one, we hear the chirp down here, it's not this one, we go down here, we look under this one, we hear the chirp down here, what's going on? I feel like I'm going insane, so they're like, this is my only thing I know how to do, I'm going to pull everything, disconnect it, and I'll stick it outside for 24 hours and let it just go completely dead, and that's what I'm going to do. Okay, well, they sleep downstairs, the next day I get home from work, I do that, I pull them all apart, I stick them outside, they're down there, and then I take it back, all of the smoke detectors were gone, I'm like, there's no smoke detectors in there, they're all outside, so there's no noise, go to bed, McKenzie comes up, dad, it's still chirping, I'm like, it's in your head, it's got to be in your head, go back upstairs, send your older sister down, Madison comes down, I said, Madison, is this still chirping upstairs? She's like, yes, dad, I'm like, the frustration is there at this point, I'm just like, I'm done with it, so I go up there, I'm looking, there are no smoke detectors, there's just wires hanging in all three spots, and yes, I hear, beep, I hear the chirp, so I call my dad, I'm like, dad, I got a stupid question for you, I said, if I have removed the entire smoke detector, there should be no noise coming, right? I mean, if it's not there at all, the wires shouldn't be chirping, right? He's like, what are you talking about? So I explain the entire situation to him, he's like, you're telling me, that the physical smoke detector is not in the house, it's just wires hanging, and it's still chirping? I'm like, yeah, is it in the walls? Like, do we have a smoke detector inside the wall that we covered up or something? He's like, no. I was like, I don't know what it is, and this is what he tells me, he says, son, go get Mary, tell her to come upstairs, get fresh ears on it, and see if she can figure out exactly where it's happening. I said, okay. So I'm like, I'm going insane, I'm so done with this, I'm ready to just like burn the upstairs down. I go downstairs, I'm like, Mary, can you just go upstairs, this is all I want you to do, just listen, find out exactly where you think that chirping's coming from. Just point at it, I may have to tear a hole in the wall. She goes up there, no lie, 35 seconds later she comes down. I found her problem, we had an old smoke detector that had been disconnected for at least a year sitting in a box covered up by a bunch of clutter that had a failing battery in it and it was just a chirping. And I totally missed it. And at that moment I'm like, I'm thankful for my wife. But it's those moments, those moments of frustration, as soon as that sets in, it's precisely when my amnesia hits. I have forgotten God. I have forsaken the one who never forsakes me and failed to see that he has brought the aggravation in my life to drive me to him. Because you know one thing I didn't do through all of it? I didn't pray. I did not pray. I did not seek God. I did not seek his you know, and thank him for the house that we had. I was cursing smoke detectors. These are the little things that God uses in our lives. The aggravation whenever a machine just does not work after we've done everything to it to fix it. The things when wires are not connecting and the sound system just isn't doing everything we know it should be doing. These are the things that God has allowed and ordained in our lives to mold us more into his image. But those are the little things. What about contentment in the big things? 2 Corinthians 12. 10. For the sake of Christ, then I am content. What is he content with? Paul, what are you content with? I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. These are contentment in the big things. Again, I go to Jeremiah Burroughs. He says, if I become content by having my desire satisfied, that is only self-love. But when I am contented with the hand of God and am willing to be at His disposal, that comes from my love to God. Wow. In the 1800s, there was a Lutheran pastor in Sweden named Pastor Sandal, and he had a daughter. Her name was Carolina. A lot of people just called her Lina. She loved her dad. Her dad would study in his office, and as a little girl, Carolina would just sort of go in there with her dolls in his office and play next to his desk. She just wanted to be near her dad all the time. She loved her dad. As she grew older, she saw her dad's devotion to Christ, and this spurred in her devotion for Christ as well. And so she began at a young age, a teenager age, and a young adult to begin writing hymns out of her honor for Christ. She wrote many songs, many hymns, and when she was in her early 20s, about 25, her and her dad were on a riverboat cruise, and something had locked up with the engine as they were standing on the deck, and her dad fell overboard, and she witnessed as her dad perished in the water. She lost her dad, whom she loved greatly. About three weeks later, Carolina decided to work through the healing of losing her beloved father through a way that she many times took her struggles to Christ, and that was writing a hymn. And she crafted the words to this hymn that we sing in our churches today. It goes, day by day, and with each passing moment, strength I find to meet my trials here. Now watch this. Trusting in my father's, think about that. She called God, she lost her father, she called God, saw him as her father. What was it that she was trusting in him? His wise bestowment. I've no cause for worry or for fear. He whose heart is kind beyond all measure gives unto us each day what he deems best. love. This is the part I underlined and put in bold print. Lovingly, it's part of pain and pleasure, mingling, toil, with peace and rest. That's not what we want. But in his wise bestowment, that's what we need. verse 2 says, every day the Lord himself is near me with a special mercy for each hour. All my cares he fain would bear and cheer me, he whose name is counselor and power. The protection of his child and treasure is a charge that on himself he laid. as thy days, thy strength shall be in measure. This the pledge to me he made. Verse 3 says, help me then, in every tribulation, so to trust thy promises, O Lord, that I lose not faith, sweet consolation, offered me within what? Thy holy word. help me, Lord, when toil and trouble meeting, e'er to take as from a father's hand. One by one, the days, the moments fleeting, till with Christ, the Lord, I stand. I think that she realized another aspect of thankfulness, and that is this, that it is healing. Thankfulness, thanksgiving, a heart filled with contentment and gratitude heals in our moments of great trial. I can conclude this morning with this. That is the future of thanksgiving. The future of thanksgiving. Revelation 4.9 says, and when ever, the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever. What is our future? Behold, our future is an eternity of giving thanks to God for the Lamb who was slain, for the Lamb who was slain, for the Christ who gave His sinless, perfect life on the cross for sinners, and rose again on the third day. So, we know we're going to be doing that in eternity. Let's be geared to that here in the already and not yet. let's pray. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for so many things we readily recognize we do not deserve. And how quickly we are to forget them, to forget the reasons for our gratitude, to forget the reasons why, in your wisdom, you have brought the things into our life that truly we need. Father, I pray for us this morning that you do the work that only you can do, and that is change our heart. change our heart. Fill it with thanksgiving. That we can, like Paul, find in all things and all circumstances that we can give thanks. We can be thankful. Father, as we come now to the portion where we remember you, remember the sacrifice of Christ on the cross, help us to be overflowing with a heart of gratitude for your dear son. We love you and we give you praise. In Jesus' name, amen. I found my new name, found that good grace, found that healing, and the tears fell down my face when I found my beginning that has no ending, found that second chance, found my best friend, found my forgiveness, found my happiness, I've been singing ever since, I found my freedom thanks for listening to the For Freedom podcast. If you enjoyed the content of the podcast, please do us a favor by liking, subscribing, or sharing the podcast on whatever podcast platform you listen to.

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