Seasons: Thankful In All Circumstances
Pastor Rollan Fisher
When Things Go Right
When Things Go Wrong
When All Will Be Made Right
We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves. And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil. Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.
-1 Thessalonians 5:12-24
When Things Go Right
We never want to be remiss in thanking Jesus for what he has done.
“A happy family is but an earlier heaven.”
-George Bernard Shaw
Beware lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’ You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day. And if you forget the Lord your God and go after other gods and serve them and worship them, I solemnly warn you today that you shall surely perish. Like the nations that the Lord makes to perish before you, so shall you perish, because you would not obey the voice of the Lord your God.
-Deuteronomy 8:17-20
Though some in the Christian camp have at times misused it, prosperity is not a dirty word. The Lord delights in the well-being of his servants.
Let them be put to shame and disappointed altogether who rejoice at my calamity! Let them be clothed with shame and dishonor who magnify themselves against me! Let those who delight in my righteousness shout for joy and be glad and say evermore, “Great is the Lord, who delights in the welfare of his servant!” Then my tongue shall tell of your righteousness and of your praise all the day long.
-Psalm 35:26-28
At the same time, we need to be sober-minded and prepared.
“Life is not a straight line leading from one blessing to the next and then finally to heaven. Life is a winding and troubled road. Switchback after switchback. And the point of biblical stories like Joseph and Job and Esther and Ruth is to help us feel in our bones (not just know in our heads) that God is for us in all these strange turns. God is not just showing up after the trouble and cleaning it up. He is plotting the course and managing the troubles with far-reaching purposes for our good and for the glory of Jesus Christ.”
-John Piper, A Sweet and Bitter Providence: Sex, Race, and the Sovereignty of God
When Things Go Wrong
We never want to act like our present circumstance is all that we will ever see of Jesus. However, we don’t want to miss what he wants us to see through it.
Thank God for what he’s done in the past -this expresses your appreciation for his faithfulness
This protects you from an entitled heart which is never satisfied and ungrateful (Luke
“Gratitude changes the pangs of memory into a tranquil joy.”
Thank God for what he is doing presently - this opens your eyes to the present moves of the Holy Spirit in, through and around you. This protects you from a dullness of spirit, being unaware of how Jesus is constantly on the move around you (John
“The unthankful heart... discovers no mercies; but let the thankful heart sweep through the day and, as the magnet finds the iron, so it will find, in every hour, some heavenly blessings!”
“Be grateful for what you have and stop complaining - it bores everybody else, does you no good, and doesn't solve any problems.”
Thank God for what he will do - this is an act of faith demonstrating your trust in God’s faithfulness. It protects you from a fearful heart, knowing the way God has moved in the past, he can move again by his power and grace
“Gratitude is the healthiest of all human emotions. The more you express gratitude for what you have, the more likely you will have even more to express gratitude for.”
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”
-Theodore Roosevelt, Citizenship In A Republic
When All Will Be Made Right
We never want to forget that this place is not the Christian’s ultimate home. We want to live in the light of our ultimate salvation, the forgiveness of our sins purchased by Christ on the cross through his death, burial and resurrection from the dead.
Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, are drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him. Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.
-1 Thessalonians 5:1-11
Second City Church - Seasons - Pastor Rollan Fisher 2019