Luke tells us that Christ gave thanks before distributing the bread for the feeding of the five thousand.  All the synoptic gospels record that at the Last Supper, Christ gave thanks as He broke the bread and gave the cup.  The Psalms are full of verses that begin “O give thanks unto the Lord….”  Paul told the believers in Thessalonica to “give thanks in all circumstances”, and the Philippians he instructed to present their prayers “with thanksgiving.”  Thanksgiving is an integral part of the believer’s faith life.

As I write this, I am waiting for a phone call.  My daughter-in-law is in labor with their firstborn.  The baby is 11 days overdue.  They went to the hospital 11 hours ago.  Things have not gone well.  None of my five births were like this.   My daughter’s two births were also pretty easy.  This was supposed to be another “we’re going to the hospital now” followed a few hours later by a cheerful “She’s here!”.  It is anything but.  Our darling Brooke isn’t having that wonderful, rosy natural birth experience we all wanted her to have.  Quite frankly, to use our son’s word, so far it’s terrible.  Brooke has had horrendous pain, and is exhausted, her body giving out.   I wonder if it will end in a C-section.  A phrase keeps coming to mind from an Anne of Green Gables series book that refers to childbirth as “the passage perilous”.  We are 350 miles away, which somehow makes the waiting harder for me.  Not that we could “do” anything if we were there, of course, but somehow just being closer would feel like doing something.  And…. the awful thought slithers in, dark and whispering, “If something bad happens, I’d BE there to help my son bear it…”  We know there are many, many people praying – but God doesn’t answer prayers by a popularity contest.   Fear nudges its toes through the door.

How do we respond to situations like this?  I’ve been praying a lot, of course.  But I haven’t been remembering to do this thing that Scripture is clear about: give thanks.  We are to give the same thanks no matter what the situation, no matter what the outcome.  We don’t just give thanks that “it could have been worse”.   If our thanks only come for what we have, because we might have had LESS, then we’ve missed the point.  We give thanks because what we have from God does not change.  The truly worst can NEVER happen: He will never leave us or forsake us.  No matter what happens to us, nothing can separate us from His presence.  He is WITH Brooke in that labor room.  Nothing can separate us from His compassion.  As Jesus wept at Lazarus’ tomb even though He knew He was about to raise him from the dead, I believe God is weeping at the ordeal His daughter is undergoing; He makes use even of the results of the Fall, but, oh, how it grieves Him to see His world suffering.  We give thanks because nothing can overcome us that is greater than His ability to get us through.   No matter how difficult this birth, He is able to sustain Brooke through it.  If the I-don’t-want-to-think-about-it were to happen and we were to lose mother or child, He will carry us through that loss and enable us to stand through the days ahead.   Giving thanks doesn’t mean that my fear disappears, but it does make it assume a different demeanor.

God willing, that phone will ring any minute with news that Evelyn Jane has joined us and that mother and daughter are doing fine, and this Thanksgiving Day will see us giving thanks for the blessing of a new granddaughter.  But whatever He wills for that situation, I know what He wills for ME:  that come what may, I WILL be giving Him thanks.

For the Christian, thanksgiving isn’t an option – it’s a given!