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The Therapy of Thankfulness. . . In the Thick of Things

A Reading from Roger Ellsworth

And as day was about to dawn, Paul implored them all to take food, saying, “Today is the fourteenth day you have waited and continued without food, and eaten nothing. Therefore I urge you to take nourishment, for this is for your survival, since not a hair will fall from the head of any of you.” And when he had said these things, he took bread and gave thanks to God in the presence of them all; and when he had broken it he began to eat. Then they were all encouraged, and also took food themselves.

Acts 27:33-36

In Acts 27 we find the Apostle Paul “in the thick of things.” You know what I mean by the thick of things: serious trouble or dire circumstances! I wonder if the phrase is an offshoot of “the thick of battle,” which refers to that part of battle in which the heaviest fighting occurs.

But back to Paul; a prisoner of the Roman government, he was sailing to Rome to stand trial before Caesar (Acts 26:32). The charge leveled against him was sedition, that is, the inciting of rebellion against the government (Acts 24:5-6).

That would seem to be trouble enough. But Paul’s trouble was only beginning. His ship encountered a “tempestuous head wind,” which was called “Euroclydon,” that is, a northeasterly wind.

This storm was so severe, that Luke, the author of Acts, says: “… we were exceedingly tempest-tossed” (v. 18), and “… no small tempest beat on us” (v. 20).

To make things worse, this storm continued for several days, two weeks to be exact! (v. 33).

The sailors had given up all hope. But in the midst of their despair, Paul came to offer encouragement and hope. One of the ways in which he did this was by giving them food.

Now here is a remarkable thing—in that setting of crisis, fear, confusion and exhaustion, Paul did not merely offer food. He first “gave thanks to God in the presence of them all” (v. 35).

If there has ever been a time in which the giving of thanks might seem to be out of place, this was it!

Paul could have said: “The men are preoccupied with the storm. There is no point in giving thanks.” Or he could have said: “The men are in no mood to have religion crammed down their throats.” Or he could have said: “The men will think I am crazy to thank God for food with this storm going on. Why thank God for the food when He won’t stop the storm?”

But Paul expressed thanks just the same. It was a situation that would seem to call for bitterness, anger and skepticism, but Paul used it as an occasion for thanksgiving.

Why did he do it? Some would say it was mere force of habit, that Paul was observing his routine without thinking. That won’t work. Paul was far too thoughtful, far too devoted to Christ, and far too genuine than to do this out of habit. This was a sincere expression of worship to God.

By doing this, Paul was declaring his conviction that God is with us in every situation. There would be no need to pray if God were not there to hear the prayer.

Paul was also registering his firm belief that every good thing comes from God, even something as common as food, and that we owe thanks to Him. We must be thankful for the big things (v. 24), but we must not think that we exhaust our responsibility in so doing. We must also be thankful for the small things. By the way, if we are always thankful for small blessings, we will never fail to be thankful for large blessings.

Paul was also showing his companions that we are blessed even while we are burdened.

And what resulted from Paul’s simple act of thanksgiving? Luke says “… they were all encouraged …” (v. 36).

Thankfulness never fails to leave a favorable impression. Sourness also leaves an impression but never a favorable one.

So let’s make up our minds that we can go through life humbly grateful or grumbly hateful, and let’s make it our business to choose the former.

With all his difficulties Paul was a grateful man. Do you wonder what he would say if he were asked to name the thing for which he was most grateful? I think he would say: “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift” (2 Cor. 8:9). That gift, of course, is Christ and the eternal life we can receive through Him.

Be grateful for all God’s gifts, and don’t ever fail to be grateful for the greatest of His gifts.

Enjoying Learning from a Dog

This evening in family devotions, we used a reading from Tim Ellsworth in which he recounted some lessons he learned from his dog. The Bible reading comes from 2 Peter:

… [G]row in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever.
Amen.

2 Peter 3:18

My Sanctified Dog, Gus

I miss our morning conversations the most. Every morning I would go outside to see my dogs. While they were both happy to see me, Gus expressed his joy in a much more vocal way. It was almost as if he were singing to me with a “roo, roo, roo” type of sound that must have annoyed the neighbors. Sometimes I had to go back into the house just to get him to stop.

He was always thrilled to see me at any time of the day, but only in the mornings was I greeted in such a raucous manner. I came to call it my morning conversation with Gus. It was like he had been waiting all night to see me, and he simply wanted to tell my how his night had been.

I got Gus when he was just a puppy, probably only about three weeks old. He and his momma, who was half golden retriever, were residents of the local dog pound when I came in looking for two dogs to replace those we had just lost. Gus was the only pup to survive from her litter of seven, and I took both him and his mom.

Gus (whom we named after the great Christian thinker Augustine) was a tiny little guy, fitting in the palm of my hand. He was entirely dependent upon his mother, Suzy, and when she would walk off and leave him behind, he would sit down, throw back his head, and let loose with a mournful cry. You would think his world had come to an end because his mom was a few yards away. He eventually grew to be almost twice her size, but he never stopped being her pup.

My mornings are a lot quieter now. At eleven years of age, Gus had been dealing with arthritis in his legs for some time. His condition had steadily worsened despite an increase in the pain-killing medication he was taking. It got to the place where he could hardly walk.

So we had to say goodbye. I knew for weeks that the day was coming and tried to prepare myself as best as I could. But it was still terribly difficult. He was my good and faithful friend, and a kind and gentle soul.

Through the pain he experienced late in life, Gus demonstrated to me what I grew to love most about him. The older he got and the more his legs hurt, the sweeter his disposition became. No one would have blamed him for being grumpy and sour, but that wasn’t how Gus reacted. He simply loved us more and was all the more cheerful about life. Maybe he knew his days were numbered, and he wanted to make those days count.

It’s probably not possible for a dog to be godly and to grow in sanctification. But all the same, Gus showed me what I must aspire to be like as I get older. Assuming that I live for at least a few more years, I’ll most likely have to deal with a variety of aches and pains. Most people do. And many of them don’t adjust very well. They become cranky and grouchy, and seem to take no enjoyment in their remaining days.

Gus wasn’t that way at all. Just the opposite! Even until the day of his death, he was a jolly, loving, and sweet fellow, perhaps more so than he had ever been. I hope the same will one day be said of me—that as I approached death, my life reflected Christ more than ever before.

My mornings may be quieter without Gus, and I certainly miss his daily greeting. But maybe the silence will give me the opportunity to ponder the lessons he taught me and to ask myself if I’m growing in grace and love for the Lord and for His people. I pray God would make it so.

Excerpt from The “Thumbs-Up” Man, Roger Ellsworth and family, Great Writing Publications, used with permission.

You may purchase the book from any bookstore or from Amazon or online HERE.