Thankful
I’m about to drop a few of the hardest verses in the whole Bible. Are you ready? They are from 1 Thessalonians, the fifth chapter. These are part of Paul’s benediction, his good bye, to the people of Thessalonica.
Verse 16: Rejoice always
Verse 17: pray without ceasing,
Verse 18: give thanks in all circumstances
Why? – For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit.
We don’t always feel like rejoicing. And if we were to be honest, we struggle to pray consistently, and without ceasing seems the impossible task. Finally we are to give thanks in all circumstances.
All circumstances.
Every occasion. That might be easy at the Thanksgiving table.
But what about the day after?
Or in the week after?
How about in the coming year?
In our schools, in our workplaces? In our trips to the Hospital? As we sit in funeral homes?
It is much harder in those occasions isn’t it, and yet it what God desires from you. He wants us to develop a thankful heart; that we may learn to see the salvation on of God in all things. There is power in a heart that gives thanks. When you see God in all things, it is easy to rejoice always. This Thanksgiving will be hard for me. I will celebrate it this year with three empty seats at the table. People I will miss dearly. Yet I can rejoice. They are spending this holiday more than thankful, they are transformed. They are in the presence of the savior. It hurts that they are not here, and yet I can rejoice and be grateful for their absence as well. It’s not easy, and it’s not painless. Yet the best things in life rarely are.
This season, I challenge you not to dwell upon what you don’t have. Do not define yourself by what you are missing. Begin to thank God for all the blessings he has given you instead. We tend to take on what we think. Whatever you think about throughout the day, will affect your whole personality and mood. Don’t get dragged down into the negative. God’s will for you is that even in your darkest moments you have the joy of knowing that this Thanksgiving Feast is nothing compared to the Feast of the Lamb, the celebration of life everlasting. A celebration that is unending. Let’s not make Thanksgiving a single day now passed. Nor let’s simply see it as a gateway to the Christmas season. Let us take this time to reflect and change the way we think. Take some time now, and think about the blessings you have in your life. Upon the gifts that God has given to you. And rest in the knowledge that you are a loved child of God.
My prayer for you this season, whether you are feeling merry or miserable, is that you can move forward, thanking God for not just what He has done in your life, but what He will do for you in the future….for forever.
Struggling with contentment, but made complete in Christ,
-Pastor Dan