"Come Ye Thankful People, Come": Giving Thanks in Times of Need

I know that for many of you, this year has been tough—even downright unbearable or hopeless. The year of 2023 has been marked by some of the biggest lay-offs since the first days of the COVID-19 pandemic, and isolation, lean times, and tension continue to plague many of our communities. 

For me, I felt this pain when my career took an unexpected shift this past spring. Life was cruising along—I was making the most money I ever had, my marriage was filled with joy, and our daughter had arrived shortly after the first of the year.

Then, it came to a crashing halt. 

I was called into a virtual meeting with a handful of key supervisors from the company I had been working for. From the moment I logged on, the atmosphere was gloomy, characterized by the grim expressions on their faces. 

"Derek, we love the work you've done with us for the last few years. You've come a long way since you first started out. However, we regret to inform that you'll no longer be with the company as of the end of today."

I instantly went numb. I had spent over three years in a position I'd worked very hard to attain, filled with exponential growth as music professional and gaining more high-profile connections within the industry. Suddenly, in the matter of a few minutes, it was over.

After the conversation ended, I went downstairs to my wife and told her what had happened. We let ourselves experience the emotions that come with earth-shattering news—grief, questioning, etc.—but then, she reminded me:

"We'll be fine. God has taken care of us before, and He won't leave us now."

Her words reminded me that even in times of want and need, God is worthy of our praise and thanksgiving. And so began the journey:

A new season.

A new ministry.

A new calling.

And God was going to show up—big time.

Sowing the Seeds

The several weeks that followed were characterized by a frenzy of filling out applications, brushing up on my interview skills, and expanding my professional network. But after a couple of months, I hadn't moved forward. And I was exhausted.

It became clear that God was calling me into something different, and I started writing about what I knew: worship. Pretty soon, I was connected to Reliant Missions, an agency that supports independent missionaries, and a path was cleared for me to write about worship and coach worship teams, full time.

But, it also meant that I had to raise funds to make it all happen.

This was the part that presented one of my biggest challenges to date, and to be honest, it has been a grind. There were many points of "no, thanks" and silence from the people to which I reached out about awareness and support for the brand-new ministry God called me into. But through it all, God remained faithful by working through the community into which He placed myself and my family. Instead of fixating on a salary number, we prayed into God meeting our needs while pursuing fullness of joy and life in Him. 

And like I said before: God showed up.

To date, we've not defaulted on any bills. We've sourced healthy, enriching food to fuel our bodies and cultivated experiences that have created lasting memories. Our family and friends have surrounded us with love and opportunities to maintain cashflow while we build Worship Strategies. 

One of the best parts? My exhaustion has been replaced with energy, the only kind that can sustain—all from God.

It's taken over six months, but the breaking of new, untested ground in the spring and tending it throughout the summer has brought us into a harvest season full of fruit—financially, relationally, and spiritually. 

Bringing in the Harvest

It's fitting that this spiritual season lines up with the Thanksgiving holiday that marks the end of harvest season here in the northern hemisphere; these days, I'm reflecting on the provision and blessings God has given to me and my family. Indeed, the reaping of grain fields surrounding the rural community in which I live illustrates the culmination of faithful stewardship and God's providence. But, the end of harvest also points to a greater picture: Christ's plan of redemption and gathering His people unto Himself—and there's one particular hymn that illustrates this beautifully.

"Come Ye Thankful People, Come," written by Anglican clergyman Henry Alford, draws on familiar themes of sowing and reaping, connecting the labors of gathering and storing grain to the work of God: in us, through us, and for us—all for His glory. Here are the words:

Come, ye thankful people, come,
raise the song of harvest home;
all is safely gathered in,
ere the winter storms begin.
God our Maker doth provide
for our wants to be supplied;
come to God's own temple, come,
raise the song of harvest home.

All the world is God's own field,
fruit as praise to God we yield;
wheat and tares together sown
are to joy or sorrow grown;
first the blade and then the ear,
then the full corn shall appear;
Lord of harvest, grant that we
wholesome grain and pure may be.

For the Lord our God shall come,
and shall take the harvest home;
from the field shall in that day
all offenses purge away,
giving angels charge at last
in the fire the tares to cast;
but the fruitful ears to store
in the garner evermore.

Even so, Lord, quickly come,
bring thy final harvest home;
gather thou thy people in,
free from sorrow, free from sin,
there, forever purified,
in thy presence to abide;
come, with all thine angels, come,
raise the glorious harvest home.

Drawing from Scripture (Matthew 13:41–43, Mark 4:28, and Revelation 22:20), Alford masterfully weaves the temporal with the eternal through the repeated words, "come" and "harvest home." The first verse is an invitation for God's people to offer "fruits of praise" for His blessing, acknowledging His hand of providence in their lives. The hymn then connects physical fruit to spiritual fruit, taking the singer through pictures of purity and refinement as they are shaped through the Holy Spirit. Lastly, the last verse speaks to the promised return of Christ, where He reaps a final harvest, pointing to a glorious home of enduring fellowship. Again, a plea for Christ to "come" and bring His "harvest home" is stated, tying the text together for the singer to remember.

The words from this hymn resonate with me in a profound way, especially in this current season. Have we met all our ministry goals? Well... we're working on them. But have our needs been met? Wholeheartedly, yes. And we just keep moving forward, faithful and full of hope in God's promise and providence. 

In the same way these words encourage me, may God use them to lift your spirit in whatever season in which you find yourself—plenty or want, comfort or hardship. Here's a couple of recordings of this hymn you can listen to—first the original and then a re-imagining from artist Leigh Nash!

• Original Melody, Grace Community Church: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jc98lQBGIW0

• Re-imagined Melody, Leigh Nash: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKunxihPDxM

Be blessed 👊✌️