Learned Gratitude
Grateful Hearts: A Lesson in Everyday Joy and Contentment
The 99 Gold Coin Club
A long, long time ago, in a place far, far away, there was a king who was very rich, very powerful, and very unhappy. The King seemed perfectly content to be unhappy so long as everyone around him was equally unhappy. One day, as the king made his way around his castle, he heard whistling. The joy of the melody annoyed the king, and he was determined to discover who was responsible for such a happy melody. To the king’s surprise, he found a servant, dressed in simple clothes, stacking firewood by the fireplace in one of the royal bedrooms. The king was bothered but decided not to say anything.
The next day, the king once again heard joyful whistling. He followed the happy melody and found the same servant wearing the same outfit, scrubbing the floor. Clearly, this was a physically demanding task and was usually left for the lowest of the servants. Such a task was often assigned to the poorest or newest servant, or it was administered as punishment. The king was even more annoyed. Why was such a poor person, performing such a humble task, whistling so joyfully? How could someone scrubbing floors in the royal palace be happier than the king?
The king approached the servant and asked him why he was so happy. The servant happily replied,
“Your Majesty, I am happy because I have an honest job that allows me to provide for my family. I am happy for the privilege of working in the royal castle and being surrounded by beauty as I work. I am even happier now for the privilege of having a conversation with the king. The king turned and walked away. Later that day, as the king rode in the royal carriage, he saw the servant going home. He noticed the servant going towards a small shack with a patched roof. A pregnant woman and a little boy came out running to hug and kiss the man. All of them wore simple clothing. The king was irritated by the joy that the humble family had.
The king headed back to the palace. The palace was magnificent, especially compared to the hut the servant lived in. The king stepped out of his royal carriage, and servants came to his aid. The king had money, power, fine clothes, and servants. Yet he was not happy. The king had a horrible night of sleep. He rarely slept well, but that night he was especially bothered by images of that happy servant coming home to be greeted by a happy wife and son. The next morning, the king called in his wisest and most trusted adviser.
“I can’t understand how one of my humblest servants, who performs the lowliest tasks around the palace be happier than I am?” The king asked.
“It seems like your servant is content; a content man can be very dangerous. Your Majesty,” the advisor continued, “I have a plan to make that servant just as miserable as the rest of us.”
“I don’t want to hurt the man. He has a wife, a little boy, and a baby on the way.” The King replied.
“Don’t worry, your majesty, my plan will not involve hurting the man or his family in any way. Actually, I plan to give him more money!”
The king was visibly confused. “How will giving him more money make him less happy?”
His advisor smiled. “All we need to do is eliminate his contentment. In order to do that, all I need is 99 gold coins from the royal coffers.”
The king agreed, still dubious that it would work. His trusted adviser went to work. He got a bag and filled it with 99 gold coins. This was more money than that humble servant would make in his entire lifetime. At the end of the day, the advisor approached the servant and delivered the good news.
“The king has observed your dedication and attention to detail. Because of your hard work and since your wife is expecting a baby, the king has graciously decided to give you a bonus.” The advisor handed him the bag of coins and walked away.
The servant was so happy he could barely believe this was truly happening! He ran all the way home. He could not wait to tell his wife. He arrived home and called his wife and son together. They lit a candle so they could see better as the sun set. The man emptied the bag on their table. They could not believe it, the bag was full of gold coins! They had never seen so much money in their lives. They would finally have enough money to fix up their house and buy a crib for the baby. They could eat better and have warmer clothes for the winter. There was so much they could do with all this gold!
The husband began to stack the coins in towers of 10. He had nine stacks, each one ten coins high. But the 10th stack was only nine coins high. “Wait a minute.” He whispered to himself. “Where was the last coin?”
He was sure that the king would not have given him 99 gold coins; surely the king had given him 100 coins. Had he lost a gold coin? He lit all the candles he had in the house and had both his wife and his son join him in searching for the “missing” coin. After sweeping the house and moving the furniture around, he was unable to find the coin. He checked the bag that held the coins for holes; there were none. He took a lamp and retraced his steps back to the castle and back home. He went back and forth all night.
The next morning, he was exhausted; he had gotten zero sleep searching for the gold coin. He told his wife and son to continue to search in the daytime, to find a place to hide the 99 coins, and to be careful not to lose another coin. He continued to explore the area surrounding the house and the way from the castle to his house. Eventually, it was time to go to work.
The king was surprised to see the servant he had given 99 gold coins to come in running late, disheveled, and looking exhausted. Instead of whistling a joyful tune, the servant grumbled as he worked. The king could not believe it; the servant was now miserable. The servant called his advisor. “Your plan worked! That servant who was always so cheerful is irritable and sad.”
“Of course, your majesty, now he is a member of the 99 gold coin club.” The advisor explained. “People are hardly content with 99 gold coins. Now your servant is no longer content, and he will not be happy either.”
Sadly, the king’s advisor was correct. The servant went home at the end of the day, exhausted, and his wife and son were also exhausted from being up all night searching for the gold coin, so she did not come out to greet him like she usually did. When he arrived home and realized that his wife and son had failed to find the coin, he complained to them, and a big fight broke out. He slept on the couch that night, and his son went to bed sobbing.
The man became paranoid that his neighbors would want to steal his gold coins and slowly pulled away from all social interactions. He kept the 99 coins hidden and refused to use them, hoping to one day save enough to get one more gold coin and finally make it 100 gold coins. He told his wife and son that once they had 100 gold coins, they would have fun, eat delicious food, have picnics, buy new clothes, and fix their old home or maybe even build a new one.
Sadly, they never quite managed to save enough, and their new normal was a frantic and cold pursuit of money; if only they could have 100 gold coins, then they would be happy. How quickly they forgot how happy they were before they had any gold coins at all.
In everything give thanks
16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
— 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 NKJV
The fifth chapter of 1 Thessalonians is packed full of exhortations for a well-lived life, but for now, I will focus on verse 18. I added verses 16 and 17 so we can have some context, but I recommend you read the chapter in its entirety.
Rejoice always, not only when things are good.
Pray without ceasing, not only when things are bad.
In everything give thanks, not only when things go your way.
This is a tall order. You could probably argue that it is not reasonable to expect anyone to be able to do this. Who could possibly rejoice always, and who goes around praying all the time? Most importantly, how can anyone give thanks in everything?
I believe the key here is understanding that we are to give thanks in everything, but not for everything. In other words, you don’t have to be grateful for the thing that is happening, but you can find something to be thankful for despite the thing that is happening. (Though there are other places where Paul calls us to be thankful for everything, Ephesians 5:18-20)
It takes profound faith and a strong relationship with God to be thankful even when things are difficult. But Paul was not all talk; Paul lived what he preached. There’s one story in particular that comes to mind.
Beaten and Imprisoned
22 Then the multitude rose up together against them; and the magistrates tore off their clothes and commanded them to be beaten with rods. 23 And when they had laid many stripes on them, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to keep them securely. 24 Having received such a charge, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.
— Acts 16:22-24 NKJV
I believe that many of you reading this are going through difficult times or have gone through difficult times. I have faced difficulties and challenges in my life, but I have never had magistrates tear off my clothes and command me to be beaten with rods and then imprisoned with my feet in the stocks. It would not be a stretch of the imagination to say that Paul and Silas were bleeding from their beating and had a hard time leaning against a wall or lying down. With their feet fastened to stocks, they likely had no comfortable position. I imagine them sitting with their legs straight in front of them in the stocks and unable to lean back.
I don’t know about you, but to me, that seems like a very uncomfortable situation. The pain, the blood, the exhaustion, there might have been insects landing and crawling on their wounds that would be difficult to swat at, since it was their backs that were likely wounded. I imagine the inner prison not having great airflow, maybe it was humid, perhaps it got cold at night. The biblical text states that the magistrates tore off their clothes, so I assume they were underdressed for the cold night air.
Midnight
It should come as no surprise that at midnight, Paul and Silas were still awake. Unable to sleep, in extreme discomfort and likely in a great deal of pain, Paul and Silas spent their time praying and singing songs to God.
But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.
— Acts 16:25 NKJV
Imagine the prison: dark and full of people struggling in life. Imagine people who were violent, dishonest, angry, poor, desperate, people who were not considered fit to be among society at large. Maybe some of them deserved to be there and were hardened criminals, perhaps some were victims of hard times, bad luck, and addiction. Whether it was their fault or not, they were all in prison, all of them facing some of the most difficult times of their lives. These people were likely used to cursing, anger, violence, and hopelessness. It was all they knew; it was their reality; a familiar vocabulary, a language they were fluent in.
But now, perhaps for the first time in their lives, they hear what seems like a foreign language. Prayers and hymns to a God they did not know. The way we pray says much about the God we worship. There was enough in the prayer of Paul and Silas that caught the attention of the prisoners. They tuned in, listening and learning. Suddenly, their hearts filled with hope.
Could this God help them?
A powerful and compassionate God who cared about the lives of humans?
Could this be true?
Could there be a God who sacrificed His Son to save humans?
The prisoners were literally a captive audience, but would they still choose to listen if they had the opportunity to flee?
A great earthquake
26 Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were loosed. 27 And the keeper of the prison, awaking from sleep and seeing the prison doors open, supposing the prisoners had fled, drew his sword and was about to kill himself. 28 But Paul called with a loud voice, saying, “Do yourself no harm, for we are all here.”
— Acts 16:26-28 NKJV
The prisoners witnessed a miracle, a supernatural earthquake that shook the foundations of the prison, opened all the doors, and caused everyone’s chains to fall off. The keeper of the prison logically assumed everyone had fled. Why would anyone remain in prison if the doors were opened and their chains fell off? So the prion’s keeper prepared to take his own life, but Paul called out from within the prison with a loud voice, announcing that all the prisoners remained in the prison.
This story never ceases to amaze me. What would cause prisoners to remain in prison when they had a perfect opportunity to escape? I do not believe it was fear that kept them there; if fear were enough, there would be no need for chains and locked doors. If the prisoners did not stay out of fear, what else could have been the reason? The option that makes the most sense to me is that those prisoners found something more valuable in the prison than what they could find outside.
Based on those prisoners staying, I imagined they were not happy living their life of crime, deceit, and violence. Perhaps they were tired of that life of selfish pursuit of pleasure, wealth, and power. They had broken every rule; they had lived a selfish life, doing whatever they wanted, regardless of the law of the land, and they were not happy with the results. Now God offered them physical freedom, and I believe they stayed because they wanted to hear more from Paul and Silas, they wanted spiritual freedom, they wanted freedom from sin and addiction. Those prisoners saw more value in the gospel that Paul and Silas were preaching than in escaping from prison and continuing their life of sin. I understand that this is a personal interpretation of the text and that the story does not give us the reason why all remained in the prison. But I would challenge you to consider what other explanations might fit better. (let me know in the comments below)
What must I do to be saved?
29 Then he called for a light, ran in, and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. 30 And he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
—Acts 16:29-30 NKJV
I am convinced that it was the power of the gospel that kept the prisoners from fleeing, for it was also what caused the jailer to fall trembling before Paul and Silas. The jailer is not asking about the power of God and how to control it. The jailer and everyone in that prison knew that Paul and Silas were beaten and imprisoned because of the gospel, yet they were interested in salvation. Beaten and in prison, Paul and Silas were able to convince all about the power and character of God and cause others to desire salvation, even if it meant being beaten and locked away.
Though the earthquake was powerful and miraculous, I believe something else made a greater impression on those who were in prison—Paul and Silas’ prayers and hymns. The supernatural manifestation only further demonstrated the power of the gospel, that criminals would choose it over their physical freedom. The earthquake showed us, as well as those in prison, that they did not only listen to the preaching of the gospel because they had no other option, but that they would freely choose to stay and learn more than to escape the physical prison. I believe that the decision those prisoners made, to remain, also strengthened their conviction that what Paul and Silas were presenting to them was of eternal value and therefore much more important than their physical freedom.
Without changed lives, their physical freedom would likely be short-lived and full of pain and suffering. Many of them would likely be back in prison; it was only a matter of time. Their true bondage was not the physical bars, doors, and chains, but their sin. Everyone, the prisoners and the jailer, noticed that though Paul and Silas were in prison, they had a freedom, a peace, and a supernatural hope.
How can anyone sing hymns while beaten and in prison? How can anyone praise God while suffering? How can people be thankful when life is less than perfect?
I believe this is learned gratitude.
Learned Gratitude
We can have what Paul and Silas had. An assurance of salvation. An understanding that God is in control and that He loves us and knows what is best for us. That trust in God is the only thing that can make us thankful in every situation. Not that we are thankful for what is happening, but that we are grateful that God is our provider (Philippians 4:19), that He never abandons us(1 Chronicles 28:20), and that He is ultimately in control (Psalm 27:1).
We must learn to be grateful that, regardless of our situation, Jesus is Lord. This shifts our mindset from hopelessness to agency. We think to ourselves.
“God has allowed this to happen. How can I serve Him in this situation?”
Every day, when my eyes pop open, it means my work on this earth is not yet done. God has a plan for me; there is someone I am meant to bless. With that in mind, I get up and face the day.
What must I do to be saved?
This is the most important question you can ask in your life, and Paul and Silas provide a clear and straightforward answer.
31 So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.” 32 Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. 33 And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes. And immediately he and all his family were baptized. 34 Now when he had brought them into his house, he set food before them; and he rejoiced, having believed in God with all his household.
— Acts 16:31-34 NKJV
Let us not complicate what the word of God has made simple. “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved, you and your household.” The profound act of believing in Jesus will impact not only your life, but your household and generations to come. As a result of believing in Jesus, the jailer and all his family were baptized, and there was joy. What began with brutal beatings and an attempted suicide ended in rejoicing and salvation.
None of this would have happened if Paul and Silas had not been willing to sing hymns and pray while unjustly mistreated.
Call to action
We all have a choice in our lives. We can look at our 99 gold coins and grumble that we don’t have 100. Or we can be suffering injustice, pain, and great suffering, and look for something to be grateful for.
This morning, I challenge you to practice singing and praising God regardless of the situation you find yourself in. I challenge you to believe that God is powerful and in control and choose to behave accordingly, even if you don’t feel like it, and especially if it doesn’t make sense. Let us choose gratitude; may we learn to be grateful regardless of the situation. May our hope and joy be established in Jesus. May we find our freedom in Jesus and celebrate that freedom even if we find ourselves imprisoned.
Bonus:
We have no way of knowing what hymns Paul and Silas were singing, but there is one that summarizes the gospel well. It is an old song, but the lyrics are powerful. I would like to think that perhaps the song Paul and Silas sang went something along the lines of
I heard an old, old story how a Savior came from glory,
How He gave His life on Calvary to save a wretch like me;
I heard about His groaning, of His precious blood's atoning,
Then I repented of my sins and won the victory
O victory in Jesus, my Savior, forever!
He sought me and bought me with His redeeming blood;
He loved me ere I knew Him, and all my love is due Him.
He plunged me to victory beneath the cleansing flood
(Song title: Victory in Jesus)
I recommend you pick a song that you can sing when things are difficult and life is overwhelming and discouraging. Memorize it, and sing it to God when you don’t feel like being grateful.
We are grateful not for our current situations, but for the victory we have in Jesus.
