When the fictional Robinson Crusoe was shipwrecked, he drew up—in two columns—what he called the evil and the good.

He was alone on a desolate island, but not starving. He had little clothing, but was in a hot climate. He had no means of defense, but no vicious beasts were on the island. He had no helpers, but he had retrieved all things necessary for his basic wants from the wrecked ship.

This marooned sailor came to a life-empowering conclusion. No condition in the world is so miserable that one cannot find something for which to be grateful. Oh no, this inner personal appreciation did not jettison away his immediate problems. But it did enable him to live for that day when help would come.

Let's move now to another individual. Unlike the fictional character of Daniel Defoe's imagination, this man is real—a prisoner in confinement. His encouragement is to "give thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Ephesians 5:20). This was not an accidental outburst! In another of his letters written from prison this same person proclaims, "And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful" (Colossians 3:15).

From these passages we gain an important principle from the heart of Defoe's fictional sailor and from the heart of the apostle Paul. True peace comes from being thankful—no matter what confronts us at the moment. Just stop and think. Why is it that so often we don't take time to consider what we do have until it's taken away—like from the sailor and the apostle?

In 17th Century England, during the dire years of Richard Cromwell, many a cathedral's walls were etched with two words side by side: "Think and Thank." The similarity between the words is startling! But only one can make the other come into being.

So often we think of being thankful only when everything is going our way. It is easy to be grateful in such times. But America's history reminds us that genuine thankfulness comes out of adversity—be it our first Thanksgiving in 1621 after a gruesome New England winter or during the depths of a great national conflict like America's Civil War.

It was in the midst of that fraternal war of immense loss on both sides that President Abraham Lincoln signed a Proclamation Appointing a National Fast Day on March 30, 1863 stating: "But we have forgotten God! We have forgotten the gracious Hand which preserved us in peace, and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us."

Perhaps you have never put the concepts of repentance and thanksgiving together, but at times that's what it takes to become a grateful person, to recognize that it is not the situation we are in but the way our heart is situated before our Maker.

Today you and I live in world full of problems. Financial meltdowns coupled with personal issues can make us feel as shipwrecked or imprisoned as Robinson Crusoe or the apostle Paul.

Perhaps this Thanksgiving you won't be able to have as many people over as has been your custom. But you can still make room for God at your table. Just lead your group in a prayer of gratitude for what you have. Perhaps on this Thanksgiving Day you will feel more full, more appreciative, than ever before—even if you don't have all of grandma's good fixings.

Why so full? Because you have done something most people simply don't do—stop, think and thank. When you do, amazing results begin to occur in your life. Your attitude changes! You are more gracious, more humble, more loving and more positive.

Just join Robinson Crusoe and the apostle Paul in how they learned to be thankful regardless of the circumstances.

While I have you thinking—one more thought. Life is not designed to be a waiting game by the seashore or in a prison cell or always fretting over our current dilemmas. Life is designed so we can learn what leads to a really meaningful existence—one for which we can be very thankful.