If there were a list of modern day heroes of the faith, Corrie ten Boom would surely be near the top. Corrie was the youngest child of a devout Christian family in the Netherlands. As a deeply caring young girl, Corrie loved animals, especially birds, and people. She delighted in serving those in need. As World War II escalated, the German Blitzkrieg reached the Netherlands. Corrie’s family is credited with saving as many as 800 Jews from the Holocaust. A secret room in their home inspired the title of her biography “The Hiding Place.” Betrayed by a neighbor, the family was arrested and sent to various concentration camps. Corrie was sent to the infamous Ravensbruck camp near Berlin.

As the tide of battle turned to the allies, food became in short supply for the Germans, and especially for the prisoners in the concentration camps. By late 1944, an occasional ladle of gruel was all they could hope for; and it would often be at room temperature and filled with living vermin. Many of the women chose not to eat, preferring to die of starvation. Those who did try to eat, found it impossible to keep down. As a devout woman of prayer, Corrie prayed often and fervently for herself and for the other women in her cell block. The suffering, disease, and pain of hunger was overwhelming.

A source of solace for Corrie was that through the bars of her cell she could see a row of trees and watch the birds that she dearly loved. One day the thought came to her that those birds would love the worms that were in her gruel, in fact worms were a delicacy to birds and were loaded with protein. The next thought was that she had never thanked God for the food that He did provide for her, disgusting as it was.

When the next ladle of gruel was dumped in her cup nothing had changed. It was still cold, disgusting, and contained live worms. Corrie chose to pray, thanking the Lord for the food He provided and asking that it nourish her and those she was with. She prayed that In His mercy and grace He would help her to keep it down. God heard her prayers, and it stayed down.

Corrie was released on December 28, 1944. Returning to the Netherlands, she established a rehabilitation center for concentration camp survivors which grew into a world wide ministry. She invested the rest of her life telling others of the goodness and faithfulness of God, even in the worst conditions imaginable.

Choosing to be Thankful

The Bible teaches much on the importance of being thankful. A form of the word thanks is used 178 times in Scripture, 35 times in the Psalms alone. The Apostle Paul tells us:

“In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” (1 Thessalonians 5:18)

It’s easy to be thankful for the good things in life, but to be thankful in everything? Seriously? There are two keys to understanding this concept.

The first is the word “in.” Scripture doesn’t tell us to be thankful for all things, but rather to be thankful in all things. There is a difference. We don’t need to be thankful for illness, hardship, or suffering but we can be thankful in those things.

The second is perspective. This verse may be one of the most misused, misquoted, and misunderstood verses in all of the Bible; but it is also one of the most helpful when correctly applied:

“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28)

Romans 8:28 does not say that all things are good, but rather that all things work together for good. Sickness is not good, nor is famine, disease, war, or drunk drivers. But God in His sovereignty, mercy, and grace can use even those things for good in the life of believers provided that two conditions are met. First, we must truly love God, which means that we trust Him even when we don’t understand or see His immediate purpose. Second, we must be called according to His purpose, which among other things means that we are responding correctly in the immediate circumstance.

A Different Way of Thinking

When we choose to view life’s circumstances through the lens of faith, then all things do work together for good to those who love the Lord and are called according to His purpose. That great Truth is what makes it possible to be thankful in all things. Choosing to be thankful brings God into the equation in life changing ways. The situation may not always change, but His presence makes all the difference in the world. Paul tells us:

“Give thanks always for all things unto God and unto the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Ephesians 5:20)

This verse is one of the key components of being filled with the Holy Spirit, as seen in Ephesians 5:18.

Perspective means that we have the power to choose whether the glass is half empty or half full. The world, the flesh, and the devil will tell us to complain that it is half empty. The Bible tells us to be thankful that it is half full. It is the same glass, the question is which lens will we choose to view it through?

It will be fascinating to see how history remembers 2020. It will be fascinating to see how we remember 2020 and what we will tell our children or grandchildren. But in the short term, what will our conversation be around the Thanksgiving table this year? It would be easy to grumble and complain about what we have lost, missed, suffered, and endured. Or we can choose to be intentionally thankful for the Lord’s goodness, mercy, and grace through this year. We can choose to be thankful for His faithfulness, and His blessings in the midst of hardship. Scripture gives us a pretty good idea of which table our Lord would choose to join.