GIVE THANKS IN EVERYTHING
I was asked to speak in Mombasa, a city on Kenya’s Indian Ocean coast. My sponsor and his wife were named Justice and Jemima. They met me at the airport and seemed to glow with appreciation as we greeted each other. As we drove toward the hotel, he remarked that he was so thankful that a friend from another mission had loaned them this car. Justice’s car was broken down and he could not afford to fix it.
He was pleased to tell me that a local Baptist congregation had made their church auditorium available. It was the best location in town, easily accessible from all directions. He added that very few people owned cars so they must get where they’re going by bus.
About one hundred and fifty people were already there. The mood of the people before the meeting was congenial and friendly. The host pastor greeted us gladly. Justice was elated at the turnout for the response was beyond his expectations. The audience’s reception of the material was positive. Many of them approached me to express their thanks for my coming. I might add that the meeting was from 5:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. so those in attendance could catch their buses before dark.
For this to make any sense to you, some background information might help.
Outside, it was about 110 degrees. The humidity was as high as it could get. The church was located on as busy a corner as you could imagine and also a heavy truck route. When the signal light on the corner changed, the trucks revved up their engines to get going again. Cars tooted their horns frequently.
When the church was built ten years before, this was a quiet spot. The business area of the city grew in that direction, and now the church was surrounded by buildings, with the heavy traffic going by.
With no air-conditioning, all doors and windows were wide open to catch any movement of air that might relieve the intense heat and humidity. As I spoke to the people, the sweat poured down my face, into my eyes, and downward all over my body. The faces of people in the audience glistened with sweat. The church’s public address system was turned as high as possible above the roar of the heavy traffic.
Next door was a Moslem temple. At 6:00 p.m., their public address system issued a call to prayer that could be heard for blocks. For a minute and a half, I had to compete with a Moslem call to prayer.
All this bedlam around us–and in this setting dozens of people expressed their thanks for a convenient location and a public address system that was louder than the traffic noise.
These people taught me that one can have a grateful, thankful heart in a setting where the body is struggling with heat and high humidity, where the eardrums are taxed to the limit trying to block out deafening noise and at the same time trying to listen to a speaker. Here, funds are limited and clothing is scarce. Medical attention is almost nonexistent; education hard to come by; money is precious. Housing is substandard, according to our definition of substandard.
None of these conditions kept these people from turning their hearts Godward and opening their ears to hear from Him. If they were to have hearts filled with gratitude and appreciation and thankfulness on this day, it had to be under present conditions. They could be discontentedly complaining about the present and dwell on what might have been or what could be in the future.
Surely these people would like a better life-style. They work toward improvement like anyone else. As I think about them, I am reminded of these words:
A truly spirited Christian is a paradox in that he is always satisfied, yet ever seeking. He never thirsts, yet is always thirsting. He is perfectly content, yet always wanting more. He enjoys to the full what he possesses but knows there is more beyond and eagerly longs for it.¹
The famous prayer of St. Francis of Assisi has inspired many of us:
God, grant me the serenity
To accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things I can,
And wisdom to know the difference.
I have had wealthy clients who are very discontent that they don’t have more. Then there are those like my friends in Kenya that are so thankful for very simple things. Our response of trust to God in terms of what we have is an excellent indicator of our walk with God.
I have seen in my own life that I need to stand with open hands before God. He can put into my hand or He can take out of my hand whatever He wants. This includes loved ones, finances, possessions, health—anything. Sometimes it is painful, but I know He loves me and I can trust Him.
God loves us and wants our hearts to be satisfied with Him:
I have learned the secret of contentment in every situation, whether it be a full stomach or hunger, plenty or want; for I can do everything God asks me to with the help of Christ who gives me the strength and power.
Philippians 4:12-13, LB
He also wants us to appreciate everything that He has given us now, even the difficulties, because they are there for a purpose that is for our good:
In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
1 Thessalonians 5:18, NKJV