All Things

Amulek encouraged the Zoramites in these words: “Humble yourselves even to the dust, and worship God, in whatsoever place ye may be in, in spirit and in truth; and that ye live in thanksgiving daily, for the many mercies and blessings which he doth bestow upon you” (Alma 34:38). This invitation to live in thanksgiving daily is similar to other scriptural injunctions about consistently showing gratitude. Alma invited his son Helaman, “When thou risest in the morning let thy heart be full of thanks unto God” (Alma 37:37). Again the invitation was for a daily show of gratitude. The apostle Paul wrote to the Thessalonians, “In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you,” and he showed his commitment to that principle when he wrote to the Ephesians that he did “cease not to give thanks” for them (1 Thessalonians 5:18, Ephesians 1:16). In our dispensation the Lord echoed the words of Paul saying, “Let your hearts be comforted; yea, rejoice evermore, and in everything give thanks” (Doctrine and Covenants 98:1). He also taught elsewhere that we should be “doing all things with prayer and thanksgiving.” In the same section He also commanded, “Ye must give thanks unto God in the Spirit for whatsoever blessing ye are blessed with” (Doctrine and Covenants 46:7,32). In another revelation He declared, “He who receiveth all things with thankfulness shall be made glorious; and the things of this earth shall be added unto him, even an hundred fold, yea, more” (Doctrine and Covenants 78:19). All of these scriptures emphasize our need to consistently express gratitude; we are to live every day with thanksgiving, in everything give thanks, to receive all things with thankfulness. Like with the invitations to pray always and always remember Him, the scriptures invite us to make gratitude the very state of our souls.

            Corrie ten Boom, in her true account of survival in a Nazi concentration camp, told how this attitude was exemplified by her sister Betsie. The two had miraculously snuck a Bible into the camp, and Betsie suggested that they needed to do as Paul taught to “give thanks in all circumstances” and not only “in pleasant circumstances.” And so Betsie expressed gratitude for the terrible fleas that filled their sleeping quarters. Corrie complained that “there's no way even God can make me grateful for a flea." As time went on, though, they recognized that the guards never seemed to come into their barracks at night, leaving them uninterrupted time to read from the Bible with the other prisoners, an activity which surely would have been punished severely. Then one day Betsie overheard a guard express revulsion at the idea of going into their specific barracks because of the fleas. She exclaimed to her sister, “Because of the fleas! That’s what she said: ‘That place is crawling with fleas!’” So indeed there had been great reason to be grateful for those fleas—it kept the guards out and allowed them the freedom to read from the word of God. This story is a powerful reminder that we too must find ways to express gratitude in our lives not just for the obvious blessings but even for the struggles whose purpose we do not yet understand. We must learn to receive all things—all experiences, all challenges, all that causes us both joy and pain—with gratitude, and then the Lord has promised that all His blessings will eventually be ours.