“To “give thanks to Him for all things,” is, indeed, a very difficult duty; for it includes giving thanks for trials of all kinds; for suffering and pain; for languor and weariness; for the crossing of our wills; for contradiction; for reproaches; for loneliness; for privations. Yet they who have learned submission will not find it a hard duty; for they will so entirely love all that God wills and appoints, that they will see it is the very best thing for them. Hereafter they will see all the links of the chain, and how wonderfully even those have fitted, which at the time seemed to have no adaptation or agreement. This belief enables them to praise Him, and give thanks now for each thing, assured that as it has been, so it will be–that the God of love will do all things well.” –Priscilla Maurice
A chain is a mighty important piece of equipment for us Navy types. The chain is what connects the vessel to the anchor. The anchor is what holds and grips the ground. Without a strong chain to hold fast the ship to the anchor and the immovable ground, the vessel is limited in both the number and types of safe harbours that are available. To be a vessel that must stick close to land and pier is to miss the whole purpose of a ship.
If you are a Christian, I am going to assume that your anchor is adequate for that anchor is only Christ and Christ alone. The focus I have here is the chain and understanding that chain to be the circumstances God brings in our life to connect us to HIM. Priscilla Maurice is telling us that thanksgiving enables us to see how all that God does links us to HIM and His good and acceptable purposes.
For sure I can in no way understand the depths of sorrow and difficulty many of you may be experiencing. However, when I was going through treatment for Hodgkins Lymphoma one of the most powerful exercises I did was to pray and ask the LORD to show me what benefits He had for me in going through the cancer. I wrote a list of those benefits and thanked Him for them. It was that list of thanksgiving for what He was doing that was an immense help and power–a reason I saw the cancer as Elisabeth Elliot is known to say – as a Gateway to Joy.
It is thanksgiving that has given me eyes to see and ears to hear and arms to receive what He has done as being for me and not against me. Can you submit to Him to thank Him for what He is doing without giving Him a deadline to remove your circumstances?
Part of my navy midshipman training was having to memorize the “Laws of the Navy” poem. Here is one of the stanzas:
On the strength of one link in the cable,
Dependeth the might of the chain.
Who knows when thou may’st be tested?
So live that thou bearest the strain!
You will be tested. Work now on a habit of thanksgiving so that when the strain of storm comes, God may grant you the strength of thanksgiving to bear it.