There was always something very serene about Elijah. He was African-American with a partly-white beard, had served in Vietnam but never talked about it, and came to the services at Rainbow Mission on the Downtown East Side. Sometimes, he would come over and speak a quiet word of encouragement to me; but even without words, he exuded encouragement. 聽
Like so many of the people I鈥檝e known on the Downtown East Side, Elijah taught me a lot.
One evening, I asked the group, 鈥淲ho鈥檚 got something God has done in their life?鈥� Elijah (not his real name) stood up and said, "I am grateful to God that I am homeless. I am grateful to God that I don't have a job and I don't know where my next meal is coming from.鈥� My jaw dropped. Here I was, new to Ministry, preaching about faith and reaching for God鈥檚 best, and he was being thankful for his condition. Was he being sarcastic?
鈥淚 am grateful,鈥� Elijah went on, 鈥渂ecause I know He is taking care of me, no matter what."
I realize it鈥檚 US Thanksgiving at this time of year and we鈥檝e already had ours, but any time is a good time to consider thankfulness. It鈥檚 easy to be thankful for something 鈥済ood鈥�, but what about things that seem 鈥渂ad鈥�; or even things that haven鈥檛 happened yet?
You probably know the account of Jesus and the loaves and fishes. After teaching several thousand people in a remote spot, He told His disciples to give the people something to eat. But there were no supplies, save for a boy鈥檚 lunch 鈥� a few loaves and fish.
In his Gospel, John writes, 鈥淛esus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks He distributed them to the disciples and the disciples to those sitting down; and likewise of the fish, as much as they wanted."
That miracle was an attention-getter, but later, John writes that they sailed 鈥渘ear the place where they ate bread after the Lord had given thanks.鈥�
What stuck out in John鈥檚 mind was not that Jesus had performed a notable miracle, but that He gave thanks before anything had happened.
Being thankful is a catalyst for God to do amazing things. Being thankful allows us to see past situations that appear to be 鈥渂ad鈥� and to see good in them. Being thankful before the fact is an expression of faith that tells God, in effect, 鈥淵ou鈥檝e got this.鈥�
Being thankful and saying so helps take our mind off complaining.
Being thankful takes us into a state of mind beyond the conflict between glass-half-full and glass-half-empty and lets us see a glass as a quarter-full.
The Apostle Paul writes, 鈥淏e anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God, and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.鈥�
Elijah had that "peace of God", thanking Him for聽a situation where others would lean on their own understanding and find anything but peace.
The last time I saw Elijah was a few years ago. He looked healthy and positive, handing out leaflets to people on the street, exuding peace and serenity and speaking words of encouragement to people.
I guess there鈥檚 something to this 鈥渢hankfulness鈥� thing, after all.
Drew Snider聽is a writer, pastor and former broadcaster. He spent a decade ministering at Gospel Mission on 91原创's Downtown East Side and has been a guest preacher at churches including Westshore Alliance in Langford, Westpointe in 91原创, The Oasis in Duncan and Port McNeill Full Gospel.
You can read more articles on our blog, Spiritually Speaking,
* This article was published in the print edition of the TImes 91原创 on Saturday, Nov 25 2017.聽
