Henry Ossawa Tanner (1859-1937) was the first black artist to acquire an international reputation in this century. He remains well known today in museum and academic circles, although his name is not familiar to a more general audience.

One of his most popular paintings is titled The Thankful Poor. It is a painting which features an elderly father and his little son as they are seated at a table to eat a meal. There is no fancy turkey with dressing. There is no cranberry sauce. There are no sweet potatoes. There is no pumpkin pie. Instead there is only one tiny dish of food for them to share.

But yet, in spite of their limited resources, their heads are bowed in prayer to give thanks to God for what little they have. Although they are poor, they are thankful to God.

On the other hand, that is not always an easy thing to do. There are times when it is hard to give thanks in the midst of life's inequities. When bad things happen to good people it is not always so easy to give thanks. Sometimes when things are not going our way, it is hard to give thanks. When trouble comes, we sometimes find it easier to complain to God rather than give thanks for what we have.

In fact, this is the experience of the people of Judah in the book of Joel. They were faced with a major disaster. Their crops were being destroyed by a plague of swarming locusts. This was especially tragic for them because they were an agricultural community which depended upon the produce of their crops to sustain them physically, socially, and economically. Furthermore the spiritual life of the people was impacted by the plague.

Because their animals died from lack of food, they had none left to sacrifice in the temple, a ritual which had been performed as an offering to God without cessation for centuries. This, of course, was a thing that distressed Joel the priest deeply. In fact the temple worship had become so dependent upon animal sacrifice that the people found it difficult to praise God in other ways. It was hard for them to give thanks. Therefore, instead of giving thanks, the people began to complain to God. Faith shifted to fatalism. Courage changed to cynicism. Hope went on a holiday. There was no faith to be fired, no prayer to be prayed and no song to be sung. And so they were about to give up on their future because of a setback that they had suffered.

Have you ever been there? Chances are that at some time in our lives, each of us has suffered a serious setback. It may be a financial or career setback. It may be a physical or spiritual setback. It may be a social or mental setback. Churches are not exempt from setbacks. Families are not exempt. Nations and communities are not exempt. Jesus never promised us that we would not have tribulations. And in such times our faith in God is challenged and we, too, like Judah find it hard to give thanks to God.

But during this season of Thanksgiving, Joel has a twofold word for all who find it hard to give thanks in the midst of trouble. First, he called the people of Judah to repentance and prayer. He said, "Sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly. Gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land to the house of the Lord your God, and cry out to the Lord" (1:14). Joel also told them to "rend your hearts and not your clothing. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and relents from punishing" (Joel 2:12-13).

Upon their return to the Lord they were able to get a meaningful perspective upon their crisis. They were like the man who took his first trip to New York. He visited the Empire State Building, which at the time was the tallest building in the world. He stood on the same side of the street on which the building was located and strained his back as he leaned back and tried to see the top of the building. A nearby guide saw him and said, "Sir, you are too close to the building to see it. You have to move back from it in order to get a full view of it."

After their repentance and return to the Lord, the people were able to see that more was going on in the midst of their crisis than they could originally see. They now saw that God was using their crisis to bring them to their senses. God was seeking to prepare them for the Day of the Lord which was an even greater challenge than the plague of locusts. It is a reminder that God does not bring us through the waters to drown us, but to save us. And God does not bring us through the fire to burn us, but to purify us.

This does not mean that God sends every crisis which comes into our lives. We often bring our setbacks upon ourselves. But it does mean that God can use our setbacks as a set up for a comeback! In fact, God heard the cry of the people and brought them back by reversing their bad fortune. God promised them that they would have "abundant rain" (v. 23) and that "the threshing floors shall be full of grain, and the vats shall overflow with wine and oil" (v. 24). Further, the Lord said, "I will repay you for the years that the swarming locust has eaten ..." (v. 25). The people learned that there are countless reasons to give thanks, even in the midst of trouble, because through it all God is at work to save us.

A pastor known for his pulpit prayers always found something to thank God for, even in troubled times. On one dark stormy day when he had experienced some personal tragedy in his own life, his members said: "Surely the Pastor will have nothing to thank God for on a morning like this."

But as the preacher began his prayer, he said: "Lord, we know that this is a dreary morning. But, Lord, let us learn from our troubles and be reminded that it has not always been like this. You have given us days of sunshine. And we have enough faith to thank you ahead of time that it will not always be like this in the future. By your grace we believe that there is a bright side somewhere and the sun will shine again. We believe that new life is possible and you have the future in your hand. We believe your grace has brought us safe thus far, and we believe your grace will lead us home."

Trouble does come. But Jesus always comes to help us meet it and overcome it. During this Thanksgiving season let us give thanks that there is power in his purpose, joy in his justice, glory in his grace, and deliverance in his deeds. Let the church say, Amen! "