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.
Like so many of the people I’ve known on the Downtown East Side, Elijah taught me a lot.
One evening, I asked the group, “Who’s got something God has done in their life?” 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.” My jaw dropped. Here I was, new to Ministry, preaching about faith and reaching for God’s best, and he was being thankful for his condition. Was he being sarcastic?
“I am grateful,” Elijah went on, “because I know He is taking care of me, no matter what."
I realize it’s US Thanksgiving at this time of year and we’ve already had ours, but any time is a good time to consider thankfulness. It’s easy to be thankful for something “good”, but what about things that seem “bad”; or even things that haven’t 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’s lunch – a few loaves and fish.
In his Gospel, John writes, “Jesus 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 “near the place where they ate bread after the Lord had given thanks.”
What stuck out in John’s 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 “bad” and to see good in them. Being thankful before the fact is an expression of faith that tells God, in effect, “You’ve got this.”
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, “Be 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.”
Elijah had that "peace of God", thanking Him for 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’s something to this “thankfulness” thing, after all.
Drew Snider is a writer, pastor and former broadcaster. He spent a decade ministering at Gospel Mission on Vancouver's Downtown East Side and has been a guest preacher at churches including Westshore Alliance in Langford, Westpointe in Vancouver, The Oasis in Duncan and Port McNeill Full Gospel.
You can read more articles on our blog, The Spiritual View, HERE
