Key Scripture Jonah 2:1, 9; Ephesians 2:8.

The story of Jonah.

• The book of Jonah tells the story of a prophet who at first resists the will of God and then obeys God only to be disappointed with the outcome.
• It’s a good case study in gratitude and thanking through our circumstances.
• It’s an example of thanking through good and bad times and shows Jonah’s ability to be grateful and recognize God even when things do not seem like they could get any lower (literally and figuratively).

God's salvation.

• Both our spiritual salvation and the moments in which He rescues us physically deserve praise.
• We can trust what God will do for us in the present and future by remembering what God has done for us, through Jesus, in the past.
• Being grateful regardless of our circumstance means praising God for the gift of His grace that saves us—and remembering that we do nothing to earn the gift.
• When it comes to being grateful and thanking God, salvation should be at the top and the bottom of the list. 
• It’s at the top in the sense that it is what people should be most grateful for, and it’s at the bottom because it can inspire multitudes of other reasons to thank and praise God.

Application.

• Being grateful regardless of our circumstances requires faith.
• It isn't something you can motivate yourself to do.
• Thanking through it means clinging to the hope of the promise that Paul writes in Romans 8:28: somehow, despite appearances, if it isn’t good, then God is not finished and has more work to do.
• It can be hard to remember that our salvation is not something we contribute to, but rather is a total gift of God. Let us be grateful for such a gift.