I am thankful for a weekend without Wi-Fi. There, I said it. During a time of the semester when I am researching for various papers, downloading assignments or generally procrastinating on Netflix, Wi-Fi is a staple to academic survival. But this past weekend I entered the Dark Ages with zero Internet access, and guess what? I am grateful for it.

I came into the weekend with the ambition of taking on a monastic seclusion to hit the books and get ahead — or catch up, depending on how you see my situation. Instead, I slept on a bed that hurt my back, my grandfather had a heart attack and I’m still putting up with my decision to partake in No-Shave November. Not exactly how I planned my weekend. In fact, it would be easy for me to find ways to complain about it.

Giving thanks in tough situations

As Thanksgiving inaugurates a “season of gratitude,” we realize it is often easier to point out flaws, failures and even frustrations with all that goes wrong in our lives. It does not — and should not — be this way.

At the Thanksgiving table and beyond this season, we will hear of the incredible things for which our friends and family are thankful: babies, fiancés, new cars, new jobs, scholarships and the list goes on. These are good things to be thankful for, and we should rejoice with them and thank God for his blessings. But what about when everything in our own lives seems completely wrong? What could we possibly thank God for in the midst of these things?

Thankfulness a Christian trademark

A hallmark of the Christian walk is thankfulness. Of all people, we have the most to be grateful for.

“I think, my brethren, we scarcely need to be told to give thanks unto the Son. The remembrance of that bleeding body hanging upon the cross is ever present to our faith. The nails and the spear, his griefs, the anguish of his soul, and his sweat of agony, make tender touching appeals to our gratitude,” C.H. Spurgeon said in a sermon in 1860.

Spurgeon makes a point of directing us back to the cross. I know it is cliché, but when we consider the cross, should it not cause our hearts to swell in gratitude? Consider Paul’s call in Colossians 1:12-14 to give thanks to the God who has supplied his people with an inheritance and secured their transfer “to the kingdom of his beloved son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”

A friend and I recently talked about the confusion between what we should be grateful for and what we are content about. We came to the conclusion that we must be — at the most foundational level of our being — thankful for who we are in Christ and content with what we have. If we mix those up, we are in trouble: We become thankful for what we have and content with who we are in Christ. Do you see the contrast? There is a danger in minimizing our standing before God and bringing to the fore the nature of what we merely possess. We must approach the things we are thankful for more thoughtfully.

Overcoming ungratefulness

This past weekend, my expectations were not met. I could have been upset. I could have come back to Biola and set up camp in the library. However, I had one of the most meaningful weekends I have spent this semester with my family … without Wi-Fi. In addition to spending time with my parents and allowing them to minister to my anxious attitude, I managed to work on my paper without new research. I held down the fort while my parents were at the hospital with my grandfather — who after two surgeries is now home — and I was even able to sit quietly before the Lord and be reminded of who I am in Christ.

Out of monotony and disappointment can come the richness of gratitude in remembering and recollecting ourselves before the Lord