CKNB Pastor Opinion Piece Featured in KY Today: When It's Hard To Find The Thankful On Thanksgiving
- Central Kentucky Network of Baptists
- 3 days ago
- 6 min read
[Syndication from Ky Today] Recently, CKNB Pastor, Chad Carmack was featured in the "First Person" section of Kentucky Today. "First Person" is a kind of opinion or point of view column allowing Kentucky Baptist pastors and leaders a platform for sharing thoughts and experiences. We are thankful for Chad's presence in the Central Kentucky Network of Baptists as he serves at Pinckard Baptist Church in Versailles. Here's the full article as it appeared in Kentucky Today.
This fall, I celebrated the 10th anniversary of answering the Lord’s call to serve in His ministry. In that time, I have — in innumerable ways — seen Christ’s faithfulness and sustaining hand through each part of this wonderful journey He has set before me and my family. I truly have so much to be thankful for.
Yet, even as I write this, I also want to honestly recognize how there have been many years where a special occasion has come along, or a cherished Christian holiday is celebrated, where I have found it difficult to match the season’s call for gratitude.
There have been Christmases where, when the church sings “Joy to the World, the Lord is come,” I was unable to truly reflect such gladness because on a personal level I was struggling with the recent death of a loved one. There have been birthdays where all my social media friends wished me a well-intentioned “happy birthday,” but I could barely muster a reply of “thank you” because my mind was so preoccupied with balancing the stressors of work with my sick child at home.
Even on some Easter Sundays — the day we celebrate the glorious victory of Jesus over sin and death — I have found myself improperly prepared to reflect on the most important celebration of our faith because of lingering tension after a ridiculous argument with my wife.
And as we consider the current holiday upon us, I am fully aware that sometimes it’s hard to find the “thankful” on Thanksgiving. So, what’s the answer?
First, let me just say: there are no easy solutions here. There are no magic words. I cannot, in one article, fix the world. Jesus alone reserves that role, and I place my hope in the promise of His return to do just that. Still, with Scripture’s repeated command to “give thanks in all circumstances” (1 Thess 5:18), there is clearly a practical way to approach Thanksgiving — even when our hearts feel heavy.
That’s why I’ve turned to the book of Job.
Yes, I recognize that Job may not be the obvious place to go for a Thanksgiving message. It’s a tough read. It’s filled with undeserved loss. It’s filled with insurmountable pain. It’s filled with people sitting around each other arguing.
In short, it’s filled with what a lot of us will experience this Thanksgiving Thursday.
And yet, within its wisdom we can see five practical ways to approach a season of Thanksgiving — even in the midst of pain — with a posture of gratitude.
1. A Posture of Gratitude Does Not Require False Emotions
Recently I read an article from Psychiatric Medical Care where the authors distinguish between thankfulness and gratitude. Thankfulness, they say, is a reaction to pleasant circumstances — a temporary emotion. Gratitude, however, is “a chosen state of being… an attitude of appreciation under any circumstance.” (Psychiatric Medical Care, 2023).
Biblically, we actually see this distinction. In places like Psalm 136, the word yāḏâ is translated as “give thanks,” which literally means “to use the hand.” Thanksgiving is an intentional act — not merely an emotional one.
We see this vividly in Job 1. After losing nearly everything, we read: “Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped… ‘The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.’”
(Job 1:20–21)
Job is devastated. He grieves. He collapses to the ground. A posture of gratitude does not ignore real pain. But when he falls, he falls in worship.
Job teaches us: you don’t have to feel the most thankful to express gratitude. God does not require false emotions. He welcomes honest hearts.
2. A Posture of Gratitude Begins with Arms Raised in Praise
There was no changing what had happened to Job. His world had collapsed. And yet — he worshiped (Job 1:20).
Choosing to worship reorients us.
When we raise our arms in praise, literally or figuratively, we acknowledge a truth deeper than our circumstances: God is still worthy. God is still good. God is still God.Even when everything else shifts.
Job didn’t praise because life was good — he praised because God was. He saw who God was in the midst of his suffering. He could see the glory of the Lord shining through the broken glass of his pain. That’s where his praise began.
3. A Posture of Gratitude Is Sustained With Knees Bent in Prayer
If we’re honest, a lot of what Job says in the book is uncomfortable. His prayers throughout are messy. Emotional. Theologically sloppy at times. Very rough. Very raw.
And yet, he keeps praying.
In his sermon “Miserable Comforters,” Timothy Keller notes, “Job says all kinds of wrong things about God — but he says them TO God.” In other words, Job never stops talking to the Lord.
Here’s a beautiful truth to give thanks for this season: God can handle you! God can handle your tears. God can handle your frustration. God can handle your questions. That’s all within his power.
And as we see in the text, He would rather hear your honest cries than encounter your polished silence.
Gratitude in hard seasons is sustained through prayer — even angry, tired, confused prayer. When our knees bend in surrender, God meets us there. He shows up. He gives to us Himself.
4. A Posture of Gratitude Sets Its Eyes Upward
By the middle chapters of Job, nothing in his circumstances has changed. He is still sitting in ashes. His body still aches. His questions still feel unanswered. His position has not moved.
But his eyes keep lifting. Even in the midst of confusion, Job looks beyond his pain to the character, sovereignty and justice of God. His gaze refuses to stay fixed on the ashes.
This upward focus is clear in Job 19:25, where he declares:
“I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand on the earth.”
Job’s hope is anchored in the Redeemer — a glimpse of what is coming. And ultimately, that Redeemer is fulfilled in Jesus Christ. In Him, our upward gaze finds not just hope for someday but hope that is alive today. Hebrews 12:2 calls us to look to Jesus, “the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross.”
When we lift our eyes to Jesus, we see the one who turns sorrow into joy, loss into redemption and ashes into worship. Even when our feet are in the ashes, our hearts can rise in gratitude because Christ has already won the ultimate victory.
5. A Posture of Gratitude Is Strengthened by Faithful Community
Job’s immediate company was… not the best.
His wife urged him to give up (Job 2:9). His friends — Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar — started strong by sitting with him in silence but eventually became his fiercest critics.
These were not gratitude-producing companions.
Maybe some of us will experience something similar this Thanksgiving: family tension, old arguments, people who simply do not understand us. Most of us, due to familial and relational obligations, cannot change who will be in the house around us at Thanksgiving.
But what we can do is ensure these voices are not the only ones shaping us.
Imagine if Job had one faithful friend beside him — someone to say, “Job, they’re wrong. God hasn’t abandoned you. Let’s step away from this for a bit.” How much more uplifted do you think Job would have been? Someone to offer him one kind word in the midst of the shouting?
We all need voices that lift our heads toward Christ. If we’re going to encounter people who would draw our minds away from what is good, then we must also surround ourselves with those who will raise our thoughts back up again.
So this season, seek out God’s people to give thanks with. Reconnect with a friend. Attend a local worship service. Call a pastor or counselor.
Allow the faithful to surround you. Gratitude grows best in community.
Conclusion
Gratitude isn’t about pretending life is perfect. It’s about posture — arms raised in praise, knees bent in prayer, eyes lifted to God and hearts anchored in community. Even in the ashes, even when it hurts, we can choose to give thanks.
And ultimately, our eyes are fixed on Jesus — the Redeemer who turns loss into hope, sorrow into joy, and ashes into worship. This Thanksgiving, let your posture of gratitude reflect not just what God has done, but who He is.
Some years, gratitude feels impossible. The heart is heavy; the pain is fresh and even the smallest “thank you” seems out of reach. We gather around the table, we see the lights and the laughter, and yet inside, it’s a struggle just to feel anything close to thankful. That’s okay. God sees the effort, He hears the honest cry and He meets us in the tension — even when it’s hard to find the thankful on Thanksgiving.
Chad Carmack serves as the Pastor at Pinckard Baptist Church in Versailles