Choose Gratitude: God Is Good in Every Season

Introduction

"I came all the way from Kentucky to Montreal to tell you: choose gratitude." Trevor Barton, guest preacher at la Chapelle, brings this message on a Thanksgiving Sunday. He shares his love for this city, this church, its vision and its pastor, and says that every time he visits, he feels like family.

He starts from Moses' final words to the people in Deuteronomy 30:19, then opens Psalm 107, one of his favorite psalms. It is a song about the story of Israel, a story that reminds us to be thankful, and a story that is also ours.

The message fits in one sentence, which the preacher repeats in every possible form: God is not good only when life is good. God is good all the time, and that is why gratitude is possible in every situation.

Message Outline

1. Choose life: every choice matters

• Before he dies, Moses gathers the nation for his last sermon. He gives instructions, encouragement and a warning, and he announces that leadership is passing to Joshua.
• Then he says something very important: "I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. Therefore choose life, that you may live, you and your descendants" (Deuteronomy 30:19).
• What Moses highlights is something many of us forget: every choice has consequences, and every choice is connected to other choices. "Choices are the threads that weave our reality together."
• Every choice you make, every choice I make, either adds life or takes it away. Choose what gives life, choose what sustains life.
• There is one choice all of us can make that leads to life, to joy, to peace, to a better way of living: gratitude.

2. What gratitude does in us

• Someone said that gratitude is the highest form of thought. It shifts our gaze, deepens our perspective, softens our heart, renews our soul and refocuses our mind. It gives us the momentum to keep going even when life is hard.
• It keeps us away from bitterness, resentment, frustration, hatred and fear. Without gratitude, life is harder: we complain, we get angry, and we forget that even in the middle of what is bad, there is good, because God is good.
• Gratitude lets us celebrate and savor the wins. It forces us to slow down and take inventory of what is good, otherwise all we see is what is going wrong: being with friends, with family, having food to eat, laughing with the people we love, belonging to a wonderful church, knowing the love of God.
• It frees us from the toxic emotions that smother peace and joy: uncontrolled anger, jealousy, insecurity. "When I feel like I am less than other people, gratitude reminds me that I am fearfully and wonderfully made" (Psalm 139:14). Someone said that we celebrate roses in spite of their thorns, but we forget to do that in life: we forget that ordinary things can be wonderful.
• It makes us mentally stronger, it keeps us from getting discouraged and giving up. It anchors us in the present moment, instead of living in the past or only in the future.
• It strengthens our relationships. Imagine a friend looking at you and saying: "I am grateful for you." Some people have never heard it, but everyone should experience it. The pastor invites husbands to look at their wife and say: "I thank God for you, you are a gift to me," then wives, parents toward their children, and even employees toward their boss.
• It makes us accountable: it reminds us that we do not deserve everything that is good. Everything good in my life and in yours is a gift from God.

3. God is good all the time

• "Give thanks to Yahweh, for he is good, for his loving kindness endures forever" (Psalm 107:1). There is nothing good apart from God. He reveals his goodness every day, in a thousand ways: a child's smile, a meal with a friend, a pillow to lay your head on, a coat, a pair of shoes. All it takes is a moment to look for it.
• But life is not always easy. Sometimes darkness visits us, sometimes we run into evil, sometimes people hurt us or mistreat us. Even in the darkness, the disappointment and the pain, God is still good.
• When someone escapes a disaster, they say: "God, you are good, you kept me safe." But even in the disaster, God is good. "When the storm misses me, I say God is good. But when the storm finds me, God is still good."
• When I am healthy, God is good; when I am sick, God is good. When I am happy, God is good; when I am sad, God is good. When I get the job, God is good; when I lose the job, God is still good. "God is not good only when life is good. God is good all the time."
• Charles Spurgeon said that God is good because, when the storms of life hit, he draws closer to us than the storm ever could. The darkness is near, but God is nearer. Pain, disappointment and betrayal come close, but God comes closer.
• This is one of the teachings of Scripture: God is always good and God always does good. He can take our pain, the loss of a job, a tragedy, and bring out of it good beyond what we can think (Romans 8:28). He works in the darkness to bring us to the light, in the pain to bring us to joy, in the anxiety to bring us to peace.

4. Let the redeemed tell their story

• "Let the redeemed by Yahweh say so, whom he has redeemed from the hand of the adversary, and gathered out of the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south" (Psalm 107:2-3).
• You have a story, I have a story, and we do not have to be ashamed of it or hide it. However painful or however bad it may be, God has promised to turn it for good. He is writing a story with your life, in the good times and the bad, for your good and for his glory.
• Israel had a story too, with highs and lows, good turns and bad ones, obedience and rebellion. There are parts to be proud of and parts you would want to rewrite.
• But the story of Israel reminds us that God was always preparing something. Whatever life looked like or felt like, it did not change the fact that God was at work in every detail.
• The psalmist then gives four pictures of God's goodness at work in people's lives.

5. First picture: wandering in the wilderness

• "They wandered in the wilderness in a desert way. They found no city to live in. Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them" (Psalm 107:4-5).
• This is the picture of inner restlessness. We go from place to place, from person to person, from job to job, from neighborhood to neighborhood, looking for something we cannot find, because we are looking in the wrong place. What we are looking for is God; what we are looking for is a peace and a joy that go beyond our circumstances.
• These are people whose soul has no "true north," who are always dissatisfied, whose life seems empty and without purpose. Have you ever felt that way?
• The preacher admits he tried to fill that emptiness with pleasure, with people, with possessions. There is nothing wrong with those things, except when we treat them as God. Pleasure does not give ultimate contentment, people are gifts but cannot give it, possessions are good but do not give the peace we are looking for.
• Then comes the turning point: "Then they cried to Yahweh in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses. He led them also by a straight way" (verses 6-7). God offers meaning, purpose, contentment and community, and a new way to measure our lives, other than by competition and comparison.
• "For he satisfies the longing soul. He fills the hungry soul with good" (verse 9). That is what God will do for you and for me, like nothing else can.

6. Second and third pictures: the prison of your own choices

• "Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron, because they rebelled against the words of God" (verses 10-11). Israel was in prison, but do not miss this: it was a prison of their own choosing, of their own making. They made a series of choices that led them to the door, they walked in, they shut the door and threw away the key.
• "That is what we do. That is what I have done." When I rebel against God, I take a step toward a prison I am building for myself. They wanted freedom and independence, "nobody is going to tell me how to live my life," and they ended up slaves to their own choices.
• "Therefore he brought down their heart with labor. They fell down, and there was no one to help" (verse 12). For the person who has ended up in the prison of his own choices, it is a bitter place, without joy, without peace, with very little light, where you can no longer help yourself and no one can help you.
• But listen to what comes next: "Then they cried to Yahweh in their trouble, and he saved them out of their distresses. He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and broke away their chains" (verses 13-14). He alone can give freedom. What is holding you? A bad habit, a critical spirit, a refusal to forgive? If you call on his name, he can set you free.
• Give thanks for his love that never fails: even when I fail, God's love never fails. "For he has broken the gates of bronze, and cut through bars of iron" (verse 16).
• Third picture: "Fools are afflicted because of their disobedience, and because of their iniquities" (verse 17). Sometimes the pain we blame God for is the result of our own choices, or of someone else's choices. "I ran into my worst enemy this morning, in Montreal. I looked in the mirror. I am my own worst enemy." The pastor believes in Satan, but he does not need him to get into trouble; sometimes he goes looking for temptation himself.
• "Then they cry to Yahweh in their trouble, and he saves them out of their distresses. He sends his word, and heals them, and delivers them from their graves" (verses 19-20). How should we respond? "Let them offer the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his deeds with singing" (verse 22). When we sing, we sing our story: we were in darkness, lost, without hope, but God sent his Son Jesus Christ to do for us what we could not do for ourselves.

7. Fourth picture: the storm you did not ask for

• "Those who go down to the sea in ships, who do business in great waters" (verse 23). God speaks, the storm blows, the waves rise. "Their soul melts away because of trouble. They reel back and forth, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits' end" (verses 26-27).
• These sailors did not ask for this storm, they did not want it, they are in the middle of something they cannot control, tossed around like a boat without an anchor. Have you ever been in a storm like that?
• Here is what Israel did: "Then they cry to Yahweh in their trouble, and he brings them out of their distress. He makes the storm a calm, so that its waves are still. Then they are glad because it is calm, so he brings them to their desired haven" (verses 28-30).
• The good news is that he is bigger than your storm. The even better news is that he is closer to you than the storm. What is out of my control is under his control.
• Even when I lock myself in my own prison, he is so good that he still wants to set me free. When my wounds are self-inflicted, he is so gracious that he still wants to heal me. "The goodness of God is the story of my life. The goodness of God is the story of your life."
• Years from now, when you tell the story of your life, you will talk about the highs and the lows, the choices that hurt you and the ones that hurt others, the dark hours, the laughter, the successes, your family and your church. But through all of it, the theme of your story will be the goodness of God.
• The pastor closes with a prayer: thank you for your goodness, your faithfulness, your grace, your mercy, and, maybe for the first time, thank you for the dark moments, the storms and the pain that brought me closer to you.

Key Takeaways

• Every choice either adds life or takes it away. Gratitude is a choice that leads to life, joy and peace.
• Gratitude changes your perspective: it frees you from toxic emotions, anchors you in the present, strengthens relationships and reminds you that everything good is a gift from God.
• God is not good only when life is good. When the storm finds me, when I am sick, when I lose the job, God is still good.
• Some prisons are of our own making. Even there, if we cry out to Yahweh, he breaks the gates of bronze and cuts through the bars of iron.
• God is bigger than your storm, and he is closer to you than the storm. The theme of your story will be the goodness of God.

Personal Application

1. Which recent choices added life to your week, and which ones took it away?
2. Take a moment to take inventory of what is good in your life today: the simple moments, the people, the church. What have you stopped noticing?
3. Who can you look in the eye this week and tell: "I am grateful for you"?
4. Is there a prison of your own making (a habit, a critical spirit, a refusal to forgive) that you need to cry out to God to get out of?
5. Are you in a storm you did not ask for? Can you still say, in spite of everything, "God is good," and thank him even for what brought you closer to him?

Scriptures Quoted

• Psalm 107
• Deuteronomy 30:19
• Psalm 139:14
• Romans 8:28

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is gratitude a choice, according to Trevor Barton?

The preacher starts from Deuteronomy 30:19, where Moses tells the people: "Choose life." Every choice we make either adds life or takes it away. Gratitude is a choice that leads to life, joy and peace. Without it, life gets harder: we complain, we get angry, and we forget that even in the middle of what is bad, there is good, because God is good.

What does "God is good all the time" mean when life is hard?

Trevor Barton insists: God is not good only when life is good. When the storm misses me, God is good, but when the storm finds me, God is still good. When I lose my job, when I am sick, when I am sad, God is still good. He quotes Charles Spurgeon: when the storms of life hit, God draws closer to us than the storm ever could.

What are the four pictures of God's goodness in Psalm 107?

Psalm 107 describes people wandering in the wilderness without finding a city, prisoners in chains because of their own rebellion, fools suffering the consequences of their iniquities, and sailors caught in a storm they did not ask for. Each time, they cry out to Yahweh, he delivers them, and the psalmist concludes: let them praise Yahweh for his goodness.