Excerpts from the book by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III of Blessed Memory

The following is an edited excerpt from His Holiness Pope Shenouda III of Blessed Memory’s book, The Life of Thanksgiving, pages 9-10 and 43-46. Please note that I have edited the excerpt for readability and clarity. Both free and paid subscribers to my email newsletter will receive links for free access to the full text of this book in pdf, epub and Kindle.

It’s significant for HH Pope Shenouda to write and preach these words, because he lived them. He survived attacks on his life, several years of house arrest, and, towards the end of his life, very difficult health issues, including kidney disease and cancer. So when he writes “If one day you suffered any harm, be sure it is for your benefit and it will end in good, and you will receive a blessing out of it,” he writes these words from a place of experience. To learn more about Pope Shenouda, visit this beautiful slide show here.

Thanksgiving For All Things

The church begins all services with the Prayer of Thanksgiving, even at funerals. The Apostle Paul says, “And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God” (Colossians 3:17).

“We thank you on every occasion, in every condition and for all things,” the prayer says.

So, it is not only giving thanks always, but also for all things, because God continually does good for us. St. Paul the Apostle said: “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God” (Romans 8:28), either in the apparent good or in matters that do not seem good—but in fact are good, and we don’t yet know it.

For this reason, we call God the “Beneficent.” He does not do except good, and the person who believes in this, gladly accepts everything that comes from Him, saying in faith “… All things work together for good,” and gives thanks to God.

However, some might ask and say: we believe without doubt that whatever comes from God is good, but what about that which comes from people and might not all be good?

We say to them, if the posture of people towards us is good, it will reach us as good, but if their posture is not good, God will change it, and it will reach us as good in the end.

The brothers of the righteous Joseph sold him as a slave. Their action was in itself full of evil, treachery, lack of love, cruelty and envy. But God changed that evil into good and Joseph “was made a father to Pharaoh, and Lord of his people.” He was the second in the Kingdom and his stay in Egypt was to preserve life. He told his brothers, “you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, … to save many people alive” (Genesis 50:20).

The children of God are always joyful. They thank Him for all things. And when they thank Him, they do not merely thank Him in compliance to the commandment “Give thanks” as an imposed order. That is because this is not true thanksgiving. Giving thanks is not about saying just words without conviction, as if performing a duty.

The children of God thank God from all their heart and with all confidence. They are completely confident that God will not allow anything bad to happen to them, and being Almighty, He watches all matters occurring to them, and takes a stand in their favor.

For this reason, the life of thanksgiving is bound up in the life of faith, as will be seen when we talk about the virtues relating to thanksgiving.

We can thank God by words, and we can also offer a sacrifice of praise, peace offerings or vows and as the Prophet David said, “I will take up the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord. I will pay my vows to the Lord now in the presence of all people” (Psalm 116:13-14).

The Virtue of Faith

The life of thanksgiving is connected with other virtues that precede and incorporate into it. Faith is among these virtues, and in particular, I mean certain aspects of faith in God, without which we cannot reach the life of thanksgiving.

The first aspect is faith in God as doer of good things, and lover of mankind for all things. He loves you as a person more than you love yourself, and cares for you more than you care for yourself, and therefore He always does you good. As lover of mankind, He must do good for you, even without your asking. He is able to give you all you need, whatever the obstacles.

The second aspect is faith that He is all powerful. He is the Almighty, who watches over everything. “He shall preserve you from all evil; He shall preserve your soul. The Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in” (Psalm 121:7-8).

The freedom that God granted man does not mean that He gave up running the universe, leaving everybody to do what they like without control. But God gives freedom, observes, watches over everything and guides the affairs according to His good will. He changes what needs change, suspends some matters, and does not allow others to proceed. All this needs thanksgiving.

Now, you can thank God for His running the universe and preserving you from the wicked. Fear retreats from you and you feel secure with the protection of God because the evil you fear comes to you from one of three sources: evil people, the demons, or yourself—and God the Almighty rules over all these sources. How many times has He blocked evil for your salvation whether you know it or not?

God does not grant absolute freedom to anyone, otherwise the world will perish! Listen to David singing: “If it had not been the Lord who was on our side, when men rose up against us, then they would have swallowed us alive, when their wrath was kindled against us.” (Psalm 124:2-3).

Therefore, thank God because He preserves you from evil people “… and no one will attack you to hurt you” (Acts 18:10). If one day you suffered any harm, be sure it is for your benefit and it will end in good, and you will receive a blessing out of it. Thank God for all you receive, even the evil, which God will turn to good.

Even the devils are not completely free in what they do. God does not leave them to their pleasure, otherwise they would destroy the whole earth. It is quite clear in the story of Job how the freedom of Satan was limited; he proposed certain things which God allowed, and other things which He denied, imposing limits and restrictions. First, He said to him, “Behold, all that he has is in your power; only do not lay a hand on his person” (Job 1:12). The second time He allowed him to lay his hand on Job’s body “… but spare his life” (Job 2:6).

Therefore, thank God who restricts Satan’s freedom. This grants you peace of heart so you do not fear Satan or his allies of wicked people. Peace without fear is a blessing for which you can thank God and confidently say, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31).Therefore, you live in permanentsecurity, which is also a blessing that needs thanksgiving.

The faithful person lives in peace, security, confidence in God’s work, without fear, and with this faith, his life turns to constant thanks.

This faith that leads to thanksgiving is also a blessing. He sleeps in the bosom of God peacefully, thanking Him for His care, whatever the pressure of the surrounding circumstances.

This is because he constantly turns his sight towards the work of God and not towards the pressing circumstances, and says with David the Prophet in the fullness of faith: “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me” (Psalm 23:4).

Our limited human vision might work against this faith, and consequently, it will not allow the existence of thanksgiving. This causes worry, fear and the feeling that divine help is far. Our human vision is short and limited because it only sees the current problems and does not see the coming solutions. It sees the present pain and does not see the future joy.

Therefore, if you live in the problem, you suffer, but if you live in the faith, you will see many solutions, become joyful, and give thanks to God.

There is a big difference between faith and sight. Sight means you see things with your eyes, and you do not give thanks except for the tangible good that your eyes can see. But in faith, you give thanks for the good you cannot see and believe it exists, trusting in the work of God.

Faith sees what the eye cannot see and the senses cannot feel. It sees the work of God and His coming grace and help. Also, it sees the future work of God as if it exists now, rejoices with it and gives thanks for it. The person of faith sees God leading him into green pastures, and preserves his going out and his coming in. Faith says with the Apostle Paul, “All things work together for good to those who love God” (Romans 8:28).

Oh, that you learn this verse and put it always in front of you so that it would be a spring of thanksgiving for you! Take note of the phrase, “to those who love God.” Those who love God feel His love and trust His promises, and therefore they are very confident that all things work for them for good because it is under the control of God, lover of mankind.

Accordingly they live in constant joy and thanksgiving in line with their love to God. “…love believes all things” (1 Corinthians 13:7). They believe that water can come out of the solid rock (Exodus 17:6). They believe that God can make the sea into dry land on which they walk safely, and also believe that God can rain bread from heaven to eat. By faith, they can see God with them in the lion’s den and the fiery furnace.

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