The Big Picture

The Thankfulness Edition

In the depths of a pandemic, when our direct ministry connections are limited, we publish CRUview with the theme of Thankfulness. Is this a classic case of bad timing?

As we talked and prayed about this issue, we didn’t think so. In fact, we thought it was ideal to feature this. In I Thessalonians we read:

Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. (I Thess 5:16-18)

We note that this wasn’t written to a group of believers as they lived in comfort, sunbathing as they holidayed on the shores of the Aegean Sea, but to those who turned to God “in spite of severe suffering” (1:6). How do we give thanks when pressure abounds?

There are reasons to be thankful when we can see projects progressing, when we see people growing in faith and love, when we reflect on encouragements. Several of the articles in this issue of CRUview help us to recognise things for which we can be thankful – the completion of Stage 1 construction of CRU Lake Mac is just one example.

Yet going even further, we can be thankful and rejoice because we recognise that God is sovereign, and He has adopted us into His family. We can be thankful and rejoice because He keeps His promises, and continues to build His Church. We can be thankful and rejoice because we know of victory over sin and death, and that Jesus will return.

Remembering these things will allow us to press on when things are challenging. I’m struck by the example of the apostles in Acts 5. After being put in jail, being lectured by the authorities who gathered as the Sanhedrin, and being flogged for daring to speak of Jesus, we read that they were “rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name” (v41). Their perspective went beyond the current strife to the heavenly throne of the King.

In a helpful reflection on the dedication of the Temple in the book of Nehemiah 1, Jenny Salt has noted that “the joy of God’s people is God-centred” and that “remembering His faithfulness fosters joy.”

“If the people of God in Jerusalem were consumed by thankfulness, how much more ought that be true for us who live on this side of the cross? How much more ought that be true for us who know God’s faithfulness in the Lord Jesus Christ? Indeed, the joy of God’s people comes with thankfulness.”

I pray that as you read this issue of CRUview, you will give great praise to God, and be thankful.

1 https://www.crossway.org/articles/the-connection-betweenthankfulness-and-joy/