In All Things—Heartfelt Thanksgiving

Despite every life’s frustrations, challenges, and suffering, we have so much for which to thank God. In all things we must extend our hearts to Him in deepest gratitude.

I agree with Elder Jeffrey R Holland’s reference to G.K. Chesterton: “Thanks are the highest form of thought; and . . . gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.” Expressing gratitude in words brings feelings of wonder as I focus on God’s specific blessings. Being thankful in all things brings deeper awareness and appreciation of what were already sources of joy.

I have a decorated sign in my kitchen quoting 1 Thessalonians 5:18: “In everything give thanks.” Thanks giving is not merely a holiday or a feast day. It’s a state of the heart and thus a way of thinking and living. Regardless of the month or season, that sign stays in its place of honor. Sources and kinds of gratitude are as uncountable as kinds of people to be grateful. I’ll introduce some of my favorites.

Suffering in Gratitude

Paul’s declaration to the Thessalonians is a good place to start.  Since prophets and saints are closest to God, their thanks-expressing  behavior gives us important examples. Paul had an extremely unpredictable life filled with trials and suffering, and the Thessalonians were facing challenges common to fairly new converts. Yet gratitude was in their hearts.

Elder Edward Dube wrote,

As I read the book of Acts and Paul’s epistles, I am amazed at how Paul was driven by love and gratitude in serving, teaching, and testifying of Jesus Christ. How can such a person serve with such love and gratitude, especially considering his great sufferings?

Elder Dube explained that Paul accepted his sufferings in all things as “not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” (see 2 Nephi 31:18). Writing an epistle for the Philippians while bound in prison, Paul expressed “overwhelming joy and rejoicing and encouragement to all of us . . .  We all need to take courage from Paul.”

We have “Pauls” in our day, Elder Dube added, “who also serve, teach, and testify with love and gratitude amidst the challenges they face in their lives and in the lives of their loved ones.”

Gratitude was deep in Paul’s heart, and no suffering was going to dislodge it.

Living with Gratitude in All Things 

Prophets from Adam through Russell M. Nelson, along with other saints we respect deeply, have led lives of supreme effort and suffering but with hearts full of gratitude in all things. The Savior revealed to Joseph Smith, “In nothing doth man offend God, or against none is his wrath kindled, save those who confess not his hand in all things and obey not his commandments” (D & C 59:21). This principle has guided His people through the ages.

These examples are often recalled.

• Arriving in his promised land, Abraham built an altar and gave thanks to God before building his house.
• Delivered by the Red Sea miracle, Moses and his sister Miriam sang their gratitude: “I will sing unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea” (Exodus 15:1).
• Hannah dedicated Samuel to God’s service for his lifetime. She parted from him at the temple when he was still too young to recognize the voice of the Lord.
• Realizing that the penalty would be a den of lions, Daniel disobeyed the king and continued praying and thanking God three times a day. The lions must have been surprised when an angel kept them from opening their mouths.
• David’s profound 23rd Psalm has been a song of thanks Christians all share.

Many have been moved with profound gratitude in places and situations where most people would not have expected to find it.

Daily Breath as a Blessing

Jennifer, age 16, was undergoing a “double lung transplant”— “a very high-risk procedure” to enable her to breathe. With her surgery the next day, Jennifer told her father, Elder Gary B. Sabin, “Don’t worry, Dad! Tomorrow I will wake up with new lungs, or I will wake up in a better place. Either way will be great.”

When the bandages were finally removed, with her anxious family watching, Jennifer took her first breath and began crying as she gasped, “It’s just so good to breathe.”

Her father added, “Since that day, I have thanked Heavenly Father morning and night for my ability to breathe. We are surrounded by innumerable blessings that we can easily take for granted if we are not mindful.”

Spiritual Sight in All Things

 “You need intravitreal injections . . . right in the eye, wide-open eye—every four weeks for the rest of your life,” Elder Massimo De Feo was told by his doctors. Since this was the only way he could avoid losing his vision, he submitted. As he reflected on this “uncomfortable wake-up call,” he found himself thinking, “OK! My physical sight is not good, but what about my  spiritual vision? . . . What does it mean to have a clear spiritual vision?”

His spiritual vision gratitude included these:

I am grateful for what I see.
I clearly see the hand of the Lord in this sacred work and in my life.
I see the faith of many wherever I go who strengthen my own faith.
I see angels all around me . . .
I am grateful for what I can see as I follow my Savior.

He concluded, “as we  . . . allow Him to guide us on the Savior’s covenant path, we will be blessed with clear vision, spiritual understanding, and peace of heart and mind throughout our lives.”

President Nelson, for whom we are deeply grateful, has given us the perfect perspective:

The joy we feel has little to do with the circumstances of our lives and everything to do with the focus of our lives . . . When the focus of our lives is on God’s plan of salvation . . . and Jesus Christ and His gospel, we can feel joy [as well as gratitude] regardless of what is happening—or not happening—in our lives.

Burnt sacrifices are no longer asked of Christ’s followers; He asks instead a broken heart and a contrite spirit.  May we offer daily thanks with our hearts as He asks of us.