In a recent article it was noted that the Heidelberg Catechism teaches us that we are to be “patient when things go against us.” In this article we want to discuss a second thing that God’s sovereign control over all things teaches us, namely, to be “thankful when things go well.” A third aspect that God’s sovereign control over all things teaches us—namely, “good confidence in our faithful God and Father’s love”—will be considered in a later article. Since these benefits derive from God’s sovereign control over our lives, it would seem that Christians should be keen observers of all events that take place in their lives. By reflecting on the events in their lives, believers will more clearly discern what God is trying to teach them.

Let’s begin by asking a question: “Have I really counted my blessings?” At some time or other, most of us have probably quoted the chorus of an old hymn to a Christian brother or sister:

Count your blessings, name them one by one;

Count your blessings, see what God hath done.

Count your blessings, name them one by one;

Count your many blessings, see what God hath done.

—Johnson Oatman Jr. (Celebration Hymnal, 786)

When we quote this chorus to someone we mean to remind that person of the abundance of God’s favors to them as a source of encouragement, to be sure. But the question still remains: “Have I really tried to count my blessings?” The answer is probably “not really.” To count all God’s blessings in detail would require one to have all knowledge of God’s dealings with us. And that is impossible, because only God knows all things.

And where should we start to count our many blessings? After all, in the deepest sense, our blessings begin in eternity. Our lives have their origin in the mind of God. In his eternal counsel God determined to create mankind and whom he would elect to salvation. Furthermore, God planned our lives—to whom we would be born, the kind of a home we would be raised in, the culture and environment by which we would be shaped. The totality of our lives are in God’s hands, but none of that is known to us until after it happens. Thus, we can count the events of our lives only after they happen. So where does one start? I suggest we start from where we are and look back on the path of our lives and consider how Jesus has led us all the way to where we are now. Everyone will find more than enough reasons to be thankful in the prosperity of past events in our lives.

Just a quick glance at our lives will alert us to the many blessings we receive daily in our common living. For example, while we are quick to complain when smitten by a common cold or the flu, the fact of the matter is that almost all of us enjoy many more days of health and well-being than we do of sickness and ill health. Count your many blessings. Give thanks!

Or consider the matter of employment and the ability to have access to the provisions of life to sustain our families. Even in the worst of economic times, most people, in North America at least, have access to food, shelter, and adequate protective clothing. Yes, these needs may be met by charitable agencies in many cases. Nevertheless, the fact of the matter is, they come to us ultimately by “the mercies of the Lord.” Count your many blessings. Rejoice and give thanks!

Again, consider the families into which we have been born and raised. The psalmist makes it crystal clear that our lives are totally under God’s control. We do nothing apart from God’s attentive care. Thus, he writes:

O Lord, you have searched me and you know me.

You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.

You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.

Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord.

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,

too lofty for me to attain.

—Psalm 139:1–6

Such knowledge causes the psalmist to declare elsewhere in the Psalms: “O Lord, You are the portion of my inheritance and my cup; You maintain my lot. The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places; Yes, I have a good inheritance” (Ps. 16:5–6, New King James Version).

So the psalmist makes clear that the God who created us is also watching over us and caring for us in all things. This knowledge gives believers the perspective to be “thankful when all things go well.” How thankful one can be to have been born and raised in a happy Christian home and family. To be happily married to a loving husband, to have a faithful Christian wife with obedient children who also serve the Lord is one of the greatest joys one can experience in life. Count your many blessings. Be thankful!

Furthermore, Christian families have the privilege and opportunity to join with other believers in a congregation that worships and serves God. Thus, together in church, God’s people are taught to see God’s rich blessings in their lives and to be “thankful when things go well.” What a privilege to know the joys of church fellowship and be participants in promoting Christ’s eternal kingdom. Count your many blessings. Rejoice and “give thanks when things go well.”

The more we view our lives from the viewpoint of God’s sovereign control over all events that take place in them, the more we will come to see abundant reasons to “be thankful when things go well.”

Let today be the day of beginning to count our many blessings and of being “thankful when things go well,” as they ultimately do for the believer. For God’s Word assures us that “all things work for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Rom. 8:28). Therefore, let us always sing of the “mercies of the Lord,” with thankfulness and praise all the days of our lives.

Dr. Harry G. Arnold is a retired minister in the Christian Reformed Church and lives in Portage, MI. He is a member of Grace Christian Reformed Church in Kalamazoo, MI.

Remembering Dr. Harry Arnold

Harry George Arnold was called home by his Lord and Savior on June 16, 2019. He was born on December 27, 1925, in Paterson, NJ, the son of George C. and Clara (Gross) Arnold. During his senior year in high school he enlisted in the United States Army Air Corps, serving on active duty from 1944 through 1946. After release from military service in WWII he enrolled in Calvin College in Grand Rapids, MI. Completing his college degree in 1950, he enrolled at Calvin Seminary from which he graduated in 1953. Having received and accepted a call to become pastor of the First Christian Reformed Church in Minneapolis, MN, he was ordained to the Ministry of the Word on September 25, 1953. Thereafter, as pastor, he served churches in East Palmyra, NY, Zeeland, MI, Lansing, IL, and Grace CRC in Kalamazoo, MI. He retired from Grace Church in January of 1991 but continued to serve area churches as supply pastor for the next twenty-five years, concluding his preaching ministry on his ninetieth birthday in 2015. He would want to be remembered only as a faithful servant of the Lord. During the years of his ministry Pastor Arnold continued theological studies, receiving a Master of Theology degree from Calvin Seminary in 1970 and a Doctor of Ministry degree from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, IL, in 1981.