The Life Challenges Podcast
The Life Challenges Podcast
A Thankful Heart is a Good Witness
Have you ever considered how thankfulness transforms life's challenges into profound blessings? Join us as we unravel the deeper meaning of Thanksgiving beyond turkey and tradition, promising to shift your perspective on gratitude. What if thankfulness was more than a fleeting emotion, but a powerful testament to God's presence in our lives, particularly during adversity? Whether you're seeking to deepen your faith or inspire others, our conversation promises to enrich your understanding of thankfulness, turning it into a meaningful expression of blessings that resonate far beyond the Thanksgiving season.
on today's episode.
Bob Fleischmann:We had a friend of the family pass away and his widow said to me when I think of me I cry, when I think of Bill, I smile. And see, that's a thankful heart, one's a selfish heart and an understandable heart, and the other one's a thankful heart.
Paul Snamiska:Welcome to the Life Challenges podcast from Christian Life Resources. People today face many opportunities and struggles when it comes to issues of life and death, marriage and family, health and science. We're here to bring a fresh biblical perspective to these issues and more. Join us now for Life Challenges. We're here to bring a fresh biblical perspective to these issues and more. Join us now for Life Challenges.
Christa Potratz:Hi and welcome back. I'm Krista Potratz and I'm here today with pastors Bob Fleischman and Jeff Samuelson, and this episode is coming out the week of Thanksgiving, so we thought it was appropriate to talk about being thankful. We specifically want to talk about how a thankful heart can be a good witness, but where we want to start today is just looking at, maybe, the current makeup of our society and our culture. One of the questions that we kind of wanted to start with was just this idea of what percentage of Americans would you guess, understand that Thanksgiving is a time for giving thanks to God.
Jeff Samelson:Yeah, and actually the way I would put the emphasis in that this is not a correction, it is like giving thanks to god, yeah, um, because what you'll see is like, oh yeah, you know, I give, you know, I, I, I'm thankful, you know, I'm, I'm, I feel gratitude, but it's like to whom? And, uh, I, I can't remember where I was there. There was some, some business out in maryland when we lived there that for a few years running, ran an ad. That's like this Thanksgiving, we want to make sure everybody knows how thankful we are to you for being our customers.
Jeff Samelson:No, that's not what this holiday is about. But I really wish there were some good surveys or polling data out there or whatever on a question like this, because I think it would be very revealing. But if you were to somehow measure the people for whom thanks to God is actually involved in their thinking about the holiday, with the plans they make, their celebrations, their parties, decorations and things like that, I think that percentage would be significantly less than 50%, probably closer to 20, 25. Even lots of church-going Christians, I think, don't really have that kind of gratitude as part of their approach to the holiday. They're thinking more about well, you know, are we going to Grandma Smith or Grandma Joan's house this year? Are we going to make that stuffing or that stuffing?
Jeff Samelson:But I think if you were to ask most people more directly and give them some time to think about it, I think quite a few more would eventually say, yeah, I guess it's about thanking God, isn't it? And so maybe we'd get to 60 or 70% there, just as people think about it a little bit more. But even then, that still leaves a really large segment of the population who makes no connection at all between thanksgiving and God. To the extent that they think about thanks. It's just gratitude to other people or gratitude without any object to it. It's just I feel thankful.
Christa Potratz:Yeah, I think you kind of hit on that too, because I was going to say, like it just seems to go along with the whole feel good thing of the holidays too and just this Kind of appreciation yeah. Yeah, right, and I'm just thankful and gratitude and family and just these things that are really important. But to whom or why are you thankful for them? I mean, it's just this feeling that you mentioned.
Jeff Samelson:And it ends up actually being kind of self-centered, because if you're not actually giving credit to someone else meaning God, then your thanks is. You know, it doesn't really just go out into the ether, it really comes back and rests on you. Isn't it great that I feel thankful?
Bob Fleischmann:It is no, I'm just kidding.
Bob Fleischmann:Well you know, three times a day we formally, you know, in this house give thanks. You know, when we say a prayer, we all give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good and his mercy endures forever. We say that all the time. What's interesting about saying that all the time is at Thanksgiving, when the kids are all over and their families and mom and dad come over and we just have this grand old time. There's so much glowingness around you to be thankful for, and yet, three times a day, 365 days a year, the reality is not every day is such a high point. Sometimes it's some terrible sadness has come into life. Can you be thankful in the low times? Can you be thankful in the hard times? And the story behind Thanksgiving, the American Thanksgiving is rooted in a historical event and so forth, and that's fine. It makes for good art projects for the kids in the grade school. But I have to admit that for us it's a time for family.
Bob Fleischmann:I think Christians would do the holiday a greater service by focusing on what it means to be really thankful. And I would say, in the darkest and hardest and worst of times. The Apostle Paul said I rejoice in my sufferings. Of course, you read the Anglican was he nuts? You rejoice in sufferings. Yeah, I'm miserable, oh, I feel good about this, but it tells you that there's something, there's a deeper river that runs through it that a lot of people, I think, miss out. And so they allow Thanksgiving to become a shallow holiday. And because this is how it usually works out, because when it becomes so family, so finally you come to the Thanksgiving and Grandpa's not going to be there this year because he died. It's not going to be the same without Grandpa at the table.
Bob Fleischmann:Not going to be the same without—I mean. People will find a reason to be less thankful and yet, biblically speaking, you have cause to be thankful in the worst of times. So there's something deeper there.
Christa Potratz:And that really raises a point too, Bob, just this idea that as Christians we always have something to be thankful for, so we should always be exuding thanks, but into the unbelieving world too, when Christians are not thankful or just maybe kind of fall into the trap of just our culture and society, just when, you know, OK, bad things happen, yeah, I mean we don't really don't really have much to be thankful for this year or whatever it doesn't do a lot for our witness, does it?
Jeff Samelson:No, by not showing thanks, by not being thankful in a way that anybody else can see Christians miss out on opportunities and could say well, it's even worse than that. In some cases, I'd say it's actually a sin of commission. A Christian who kind of proudly takes credit for all that he has done or all that she has achieved and leaves God out of it entirely, that's definitely not giving a witness at all. In other cases, probably more likely, it's a sin of omission, simply failing to express thanks to God as he or she should, even though, if you asked, he or she would agree that every blessing comes from the Lord. And this lack of overt gratitude to God means that unbelievers who might be observing this have no reason or occasion to say, wow, that must be some great God you have. Or hey, you know that Christian has an attitude that I wish I had, and so they're never going to say hey, tell me more.
Bob Fleischmann:You know, one of the things that—it comes up on occasion for us. We always say the same table prayer in our house, even on holidays. And on occasion we'll get somebody who will say oh Robert, why don't we do a special prayer or something? And I intentionally fight that. And the reason is because, yes, I am thankful on Thanksgiving to have the whole family there. Yes, I am thankful on Thanksgiving to have apple crisp pie because I love apple crisp pie. I mean, there are special things in it. But I never want to give the impression that somehow I'm going to be more thankful today than I would be on any of the other days. And I know that's a quirky way of me doing it, but those who know me know I have a lot of quirky ways of doing things. But part of it is that you know, perhaps the more noble suggestion would be using a special prayer of thanksgiving every day for every meal. You know that would probably be the more appropriate.
Bob Fleischmann:I was struck when I was vicaring. We had a pastor die of a heart attack and I remember the district president came and preached and it was a beautiful sermon on Psalm 4610, be still and know that I am God. But what sticks in my mind these 40 plus years later was when he said mind, these 40-plus years later was when he said the chair will now be empty at the table. There will be silence in that part of the room where he used to sit. And he's going through all of these things. And I remember immediately my mind was kind of going through yep, it won't be the same Christmas next time around. Easter will certainly be different, thanksgiving will certainly be different. But then he brought it back and he said because he is before the throne of God, serving him day and night in his temple, we're never getting hungers, never getting thirsts. And I remember being caught by surprise when he had done the switch and how true it was. But it came back to me this past year.
Bob Fleischmann:We had a friend of the family pass away and his widow said to me when I think of me, I cry. When I think of Bill, I smile and see, that's a thankful heart. I smile and see, that's a thankful heart. One's a selfish heart and an understandable heart and the other one's a thankful heart. And I think Thanksgiving that is centered on such gratitude which is I've complained about it before on this podcast too I think gratitude's becoming a lost art. Having such deep gratitude that you can actually step out of your own sorrow and smile at the treasure that has been brought to a loved one who's not with you anymore, it was just remarkable. I mean, she just kind of humbled me into silence, which is a pretty big trick, as some of you might know.
Christa Potratz:Recently I've been getting ready for doing an Advent Bible study, so I've been doing some Advent devotions and one of the ones I had done this past week had you read Mary's song of praise and thanksgiving, and also Hannah's too, from the Old Testament and kind of look at them side by side and that type of thing which was very interesting. Kind of look at them side by side and that type of thing which was very interesting. And it really did strike me the thankfulness especially to in Hannah's prayer, I mean and she was giving up her son as well, but just how it just seemed to really go back to the goodness of God and his compassion for people and his mercy and his love. And I was just really, I was really struck by that in just both of theirs, but specifically Hannah's too, just knowing what she went through, and it was just this idea of wow, I mean, we really always have reason to give thanks. And it just reminded me too of when you were talking, bob, with that situation.
Jeff Samelson:Yeah, it's one of the many things, and there are indeed many of them. But you may go to the Bible thinking, oh, okay, there might be one or two or three places here. But when you go looking for giving thanks in the Bible, you're like, oh, it's there and it's there and it's there, and it's both specific passages that say give thanks to the Lord for he is good, and so forth, or always give thanks, and things like that. But there are also so many examples, like you were mentioning with Hannah and Mary, examples of people just giving thanks, that we can look to and say, well, jay, if they were able to do that, I should be able to, also because my situation's like theirs, or my situation's completely unlike theirs in that it's so much better. But all these occasions where people just said, yeah, we've got a great God, let's acknowledge that and what do you know, it changes the point of view Because, again, you're no longer focused on me, you're focused on God.
Bob Fleischmann:One challenge I have with traditional secular Thanksgiving is the emphasis we place on prosperity, especially in our country. We're thankful for our jobs, we're thankful for our home, our family, just countless ways that God has blessed us. And yet some of the most striking testimonies of thankfulness in Scripture is thankfulness in not always times of prosperity. You know, like when you were talking Krista about Mary, my immediate thought is in that culture, how many single unmarried women are thanking God for their position? You know their predicament, because genuine Christian thankfulness has a way of stepping outside of the circumstance. You know, when I look at Job, the Lord gives, the Lord takes away. May the name of the Lord be praised. How do you get to that point? How do you take all the loss and you say I'm still thankful. That's because his existence was defined differently. And actually, when you study the book of Job, you find that he actually was on the right track. Is when his friends started to help him out kind of messed him up, you know. But the and sometimes that happens, you know, because some people will say well, this is going to be harder for you to be thankful this year. You know it's a shame you lost your job, it's a shame about the fire, it's a shame that you lost a loved one. You know people will have also, and they're usually measures of prosperity.
Bob Fleischmann:And I often wondered what it would be like if we could clearly, clearly and maybe we have to wait for heaven for that to see blessings as true blessings and not entitlements. Because when you see a blessing as a blessing, the Lord gives, the Lord takes away. It's a blessing. I had no entitlement, I had no demand for it. But when you begin to see it like an entitlement all of a sudden, when it's taken, you know, I had great health. What was God thinking when he took that from me? I had a great family. What was God thinking when he took that from me? You know, and the biblical thanksgiving always seems to be centered on the relationship we have with God, so that even in the yes, and I think too.
Christa Potratz:I mean just that whole idea of giving thanks in seemingly bad times too. Personally, god has really worked on see a little bit of it working out in these ways that I had never even thought before. Never wish bad times on anybody, but knowing that God can take anything solidifies that reason for us to give thanks to him in all situations, because he can take any situation and he will work through it all.
Jeff Samelson:When times are good, it may be hard to remember to say thanks to God, but it's kind of effortless to do so Sitting around the Thanksgiving table. What are you thankful for this year? If things are going well, you just come up with this list of all these things that are good in my life. It's effortless, but when times are bad, it's more difficult. It's hard, it takes some effort, and what you're doing there is you're exercising your faith.
Jeff Samelson:I'm suffering right now. This thing is difficult for me. I'm in pain, but I have faith. I am trusting that God, my Father, knows what he's doing and this is all for my good. And you know what happens when you exercise your faith it gets stronger, and that is just a very, very good thing, and that, of course, is one of the reasons why God allows bad times into our lives. He's looking out for us. The immediate things may not be good, but in the long term, in his plan for us, it is good for us, and so, in a way, we should be even more thankful in the bad times than we are in the good, because the contrast between the good and the bad just brings out for us that much more the goodness of God.
Bob Fleischmann:You know it's interesting. One of my favorite Old Testament stories is Elijah, after the encounter of Mount Carmel, and things didn't turn out as he expected. In fact, he was dramatically disappointed and I think most of us probably would identify with that. It was pretty, you know, and he was pretty haughty, I mean he was. It was about as close to biblical sarcasm as you can get. When he was mocking the prophets of Baal, you know, got to yell louder your gods aren't listening, you know stuff like that. So he's running out and he's hiding out in a cave.
Bob Fleischmann:And then of course we're told that the wind blew and the ground rumbled and everything, and God wasn't in those.
Bob Fleischmann:And then it was this gentle whisper Even the Lord's prophet had lost sight of thankfulness for a while and God said there's all this stuff that's happened that doesn't match with what you were thinking.
Bob Fleischmann:And I was thinking of that when Krista was kind of recalling about all these unexpected ways things turn out and that's kind of how God does things, especially when we're students of Scripture, the three of us, we all read our Bibles and so forth, and we begin to form ideas of how God would do things and how God should do things, and when it doesn't turn out that way, it rattles us.
Bob Fleischmann:And then God, kind of in a very unique whisper, says no, I'm still here, I'm just doing it differently than you were expecting. And that is why you know you can go back and you can go back to your work, you can go back to your life because you still have a God who blesses you beyond imagination. He says even in my gentle whisper my work is getting done and you are a part of it. And for anyone who's approaching Thanksgiving this year with the idea that it's going to be something less than it could have been because of some hardship in the family, family nonsense you just don't see clearly yet and you've got to be willing to look inside yourself once in a while and say maybe I'm missing the point, because God says I've taken care of it all.
Christa Potratz:LESLIE KENDRICK. So what does, then, being thankful to God look and sound like to the people around us?
Jeff Samelson:Well, bob already mentioned one that I think is common, though not as common as it used to be giving thanks at meals. That's something that people notice. Don't be afraid to do that, don't be afraid to be seen doing that. But little prayers of thanks at other times too, it's like oh boy, I'm glad that you know. Thank you, god, for making that light green, because I really needed to get where I'm going, or things like that but also just actually meaning it when you say thank God, because lots of people will say that and it's just a kind of a reactive kind of thing, but actually mean it and let people understand that you do mean it, that you do mean it.
Jeff Samelson:I'd say also and this is something that we try to pick up on a lot of families at the Thanksgiving meal and the holidays, to be specific to not just say I'm thankful, but to say I am thankful for this thing and that thing. But even more, I am thankful to the Lord God. I am thankful to my heavenly father for his blessings. I'm thankful to Jesus for saving me from my sins. I'm thankful to the Holy Spirit for giving me faith and for keeping me in it. You're making your thankfulness real to the people who observe, whether that's the children in your home, the people around you at work or your brothers and sisters at church the people around you at work or your brothers and sisters at church, whoever it is that you are witnessing them.
Christa Potratz:We do an ask and then a thanks before bed and each of them do it and it has been just funny. Now we've done it for a couple of years. So just the evolution there of their prayers it's really cool to see especially the older ones really get into it now and their thankful prayers have become more reflective too, and that's just been really neat to see.
Bob Fleischmann:I think one of the most meaningful things that I encounter and whether you realize it or not, krista, you had just done it in this podcast and that is when people will talk about some traumatic things that have occurred in life and then said and I was surprised how things worked out. Sometimes that means a lot for me when people will say, you know, it just looked like everything was dark, we were going nowhere. I'm reading Christianity Today right now and they do a lot of these little testimonial articles in there. And this one guy, his life was a complete mess and he was kind of contemplating all the reasons he should just end his life and he's doing that and then all of a sudden things just started happening.
Bob Fleischmann:And sometimes when people recall those stories over the years I've had the opportunity to listen to many people tell just horrendous stories. I remember a fellow telling me during World War II when he was eating and he dropped his fork. He went down to pick up his fork and immediately a sniper had shot over his head and killed the guy across from him and he said it just he goes and my entire life changed right then he said that that was meant for me. The guy was trained on my you know, and you're hearing stories like this and how it changes everything around.
Bob Fleischmann:And then there's times when people talk about horrible sadness that has come into their life and yet somehow God has massaged and used it to bring good. And now I have sat with people too and said I've seen no good come out of it. You know it's been nothing but heartache or anything, but it's oftentimes even as they're talking. You sometimes will see it and they don't see it. And so I just think you know when people talk about the times in their life where they thought they had reached the end and somehow God pulled it all around.
Christa Potratz:Yeah, I will say too, just from my own personal experience, is that when you see God work in a big way and you see his faithfulness in something large, it makes you then notice the little things more too. And that has been just a real treat too. I mean, even the things that I've gone through this year weren't as bad as the ones I had gone through last year or the year before, and so when I would hit those things I would just think, okay, god's got me, we're going to get through this. He's been faithful in the really big things. Of course he's going to get me through these little things too. And that's just been a real, I guess, a treat that I didn't see or think of before or think of before.
Bob Fleischmann:I've always been struck by, when I think about thankfulness, how untrusting I am, because when you see the dark times, you tend to focus on the dark times and a lot of times it becomes hindsight where you look back and you say, wow, okay, all right, I see how that worked, but I didn't see it at the time and you feel alone. You feel God has left me. And we know God left Christ on the cross and that was supposed to be us. And God said because of that, I'm not doing that to you Again. You've got to put the onus a little bit on yourself. And you know it isn't that God's left me, it's that I'm kind of too stubborn to see it sometimes.
Christa Potratz:So how does being thankful then serve as a witness to unbelievers, and especially like in matters of life too?
Jeff Samelson:Well, it's kind of a bridge to the gospel when they can see how you're handling things, whether it's good things or bad, that you're giving thanks Instead of hey, look at me and all I've achieved ain't I great. You're saying, no, this wasn't me, this was all God. And yet at the same time same person, when things are going horribly wrong you're saying, hey, god is using this for my good. I trust that he's doing that. I've got peace in this. That is something that unbelievers can see and the Holy Spirit may very well use that to make them say, hey, I want that. I want that for me too. I don't have that, so tell me more.
Jeff Samelson:And I think this can be particularly powerful when we're talking about matters of life and death, because there can be such a contrast. Imagine the difference between oh no, I'm pregnant and compare that to what a blessing. Thank God for the miracle of life. I mean, what a contrast in ideas there. Or Bob alluded to the case of somebody who thinks life is everything's gone so wrong. There's just no point in life, why am I even bothering to live, or whatever. Compare that attitude to the one that says, hey, god's got something in mind for me, he's been good to me all my life. He's saved me and whatever time I've got left, I'm thankful for that and I'm thankful for the opportunities God is giving me and I'm thankful for what lies ahead. You compare these kinds of attitudes and approaches to things and people can't help but see the difference and hopefully then you can use that as a and you can have what I have to approach the things.
Christa Potratz:I think that's all we have for today, but we want to wish everybody a happy Thanksgiving too, and we know we have a lot to be thankful for here, and we know you do as well. So happy Thanksgiving, and we will see you back next time. Thanks a lot, bye.
Paul Snamiska:Thank you for joining us for this episode of the Life Challenges podcast from Christian Life Resources. Please consider subscribing to this podcast, giving us a review wherever you access it and sharing it with friends. We're sure you have questions on today's topic or other life issues. Our goal is to help you through these tough topics and we want you to know we're here to help. You can submit your questions, as well as comments or suggestions for future episodes, at lifechallengesus or email us at podcast at christianliferesourcescom. In addition to the podcasts, we include other valuable information at lifechallengesus, so be sure to check it out. For more about our parent organization, please visit ChristianLifeResourcescom. May God give you wisdom, love, strength and peace in Christ for every life challenge.
