What is the essence of thanksgiving? The United States allocates Thanksgiving Day as a federal holiday to celebrate and give thanks. Thanksgiving provides a joyful opportunity to reflect on what we normally take for granted and express gratitude for it.

This includes things like an abundance of food, loving family and friends and the relative peace and stability we experience. In truth, there's so much to be thankful for! You and I should feel humbled by these many blessings and give thanks for them.

Reflect on what you are truly thankful for this Thanksgiving.

Sadly, this isn't always the case.

The biblical core of thanksgiving is anchored to something much deeper and more enduring than a vast amount of physical blessings. The Bible contains numerous godly examples of people giving thanks, not when they had everything, but when they had nothing. When they were suffering. When they were being tormented and on the worst days of their lives. What kept them going? How could they continue giving thanks?

First, let's consider Jonah. Jonah failed to obey God and found himself trapped in the belly of a fish, deep in the middle of the ocean. He was tortured, filled with despair and near death. In his suffering, Jonah called out to God, and He heard him! (Jonah 2:1-2). "The waters surrounded me, even to my soul; the deep closed around me; weeds were wrapped around my head. I went down to the moorings of the mountains; the earth with its bars closed behind me forever" (Jonah 2:5-6).

But notice what Jonah did, even as close to his deathbed as he was: "I remembered the LORD; and my prayer went up to You, into Your holy temple . . . I will sacrifice to You with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay what I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD" (Jonah 2:7-8). In spite of his misery and anguish, Jonah had humility and gave thanks to God in prayer. Afterwards, God delivered and saved Jonah: the fish "vomited Jonah onto dry land" (Jonah 2:10).

Thanks to God in spite of government oppression

Likewise, the prophet Daniel was in an environment hostile to God's way. The Persian government established a new law that criminalized Daniel's daily prayers. Death was the penalty for disobedience. With the threat against his life and the lives of his peers in mind, how did Daniel respond?

"In his upper room, with his windows open toward Jerusalem, he knelt down on his knees three times that day, and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as was his custom since early days" (Daniel 6:10, emphasis added). Daniel was still able to give thanks to God, even in the face of losing it all. And Daniel, like Jonah, was saved from danger.

Thanksgiving for no other purpose than God's grace alone 

Today, we might think Thanksgiving Day would be nothing without the abundance of food we enjoy. Consider this passage: "Even though the fig trees have no blossoms, and there are no grapes on the vines; even though the olive crop fails, and the fields lie empty and barren; even though the flocks die in the fields, and the cattle barns are empty, yet I will rejoice in the LORD! I will be joyful in the God of my salvation!" (Habakkuk 3:17-18; New Living Translation). Even when food or other physical things are lacking, we should still give thanks and rejoice.

Of course, we should be thankful for the physical things, opportunities and people we do have in our lives. However, when those things go away, our thankfulness should persist. Our thanksgiving should not depend on how much stuff we have or how good our life is. We must struggle to "be thankful in all circumstances" as part of God's will for us as Christians (1 Thessalonians 5:18, NLT).

You may have noticed a connection between joy and thanksgiving in the preceding passages. This connection is accentuated in Psalm 100. It opens by telling worshipers to "make a joyful shout" to God and serve Him with gladness, yet goes on to instruct them to enter His gates with thanksgiving and "be thankful to Him" (Psalm 100:1-4). Joy is a fruit of the Holy Spirit, an integral component of God's character (Galatians 5:22). Just as Christians are called to be joyful in any situation, we must also learn to give thanks regardless of our condition (James 1:2).

Spiritual salvation

What, then, should we be thankful for? In the examples above, God was praised for His saving power or salvation from physical dangers. What about spiritual dangers? God desires to work with us in overcoming temptation and mercifully forgives us our faults when we fall short. God's mercy and work with us is a constant we can depend on when times are good and when times are bad. Upon humble repentance, God forgives our sins without wavering (1 John 1:9). "Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever" (Psalm 118:1).

In fact, all of God's attributes are unchanging. His loving, joyful, and patient character has existed since before the beginning and will last through eternity. God is dependable and trustworthy; we can rely on Him as an anchor when we are tested. This reliable nature of God is known as His faithfulness (Lamentations 3:22-23, Deuteronomy 7:9). Through God's Word His enduring character is revealed to us.

In the same way, God gives us a hope we can latch onto during the worst days. "This is the promise that He has promised us—eternal life" (1 John 2:25). God, who cannot lie, gives us the hope of living together with Him, as part of His family forever (Titus 1:2). By having this hope within us, we can endure tough times, looking ahead towards a bright future with God (Hebrews 11:25-27).

As humans, we are incapable of fully replicating God's perfect character. We cannot have true salvation apart from God (Ephesians 2:8-10). And without Him, it's impossible to step into the future He has for us. We should recognize our own frailty and be humbled. God wants humility to be part of our character (Micah 6:8).

Humbled must have been how Jonah, Daniel and Habakkuk felt as they cried out in their trials. And yet they expressed thanksgiving to God for everything He is, all He had done for them, and all He planned to do. They even found joy at that crossroads.

The biblical essence of thanksgiving is the union of joy and humility. It is realizing we cannot do it on our own, yet taking delight that God is there with us. God must be the anchor of our thanksgiving, as He is the anchor of our blessings, salvation and hope. This anchor does not drift as the tide of physical blessings rolls in and out but remains constant and immovable for us throughout all the ages.

Wherever you are and whatever you have this Thanksgiving Day, God's faithful character and hope of eternal life can help keep you going. Reflect on what you are truly thankful for this Thanksgiving. And with joy and humility, continue giving thanks.