DEVOTIONAL 47: THANKSGIVING
It is a long story, but I am writing my Thanksgiving blog in mid-July because of a publishing deadline. I tried to wait until a bunch of wonderful things happened to me so I would be inspired to spontaneously give thanks and write a really upbeat blog. I wanted to be so bursting with thanksgiving that you would catch the overflow of my gratitude and the words would capture that type of joy when you just can’t stop saying, “Thank you, Lord!” I wanted this blog to be about a series of love touches God was giving to me so we could share as believers that wonderful camaraderie of saying together, “Look what the Lord did for me!” July has not been that kind of month.
Rather, my focus has been on all that has gone wrong. When I looked at this week, I saw that my dear, longtime prayer partner is still in ICU, the young daughter of my closest neighbor friend died of cancer, one of the kindest, best people I know ran over a woman at a crosswalk and the woman died, and family rifts and divorces have erupted in the Godliest families I know. These are the people closest to me and I am grieving.
I go to the library every day to write because my AC has been out for a week, and I sleep on the sofa and conduct my business out of the library. Every day when I head to the library, I ask myself if this is a good day to write my Thanksgiving blog and my mind says, “No, wait until something good happens.” Instead, more mishaps, financial, physical, and personal, just keep happening.
If you are a mature Christian, you probably know where this is headed. At some point yesterday, the Holy Spirit pulled me up short and shook me. He made me look, really look, at the reality of my life. He told me that this was the very day I should be writing my Thanksgiving blog because I am spectacularly blessed.
I am a child of God, the daughter of a King Who owns the cattle on a thousand hills. Every need I have has been met through all the recent trials, and they always will be. Psalm 37:25 says:
I have been young, and now am old,
yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken
or his children begging for bread.
I may go through lean times, but the Lord will not forsake me in them:
Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” Hebrews 13:5
Not only is His eye on the sparrow but it never leaves me; He continually watches over me and cares for me:
29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny?[i] And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. 30 But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. Matthew 10:29-31
I am loved extravagantly, so much so that my Father gave His only Son to die in my place, a death I richly deserved. The sinless, gentle Jesus lay down His life and paid for my pardon with His own blood. That reprieve alone is worthy of celebrating with thanksgiving every day. The fact that Jesus came to earth expressly and willingly to lay down His life for me is something I should be saying, “Thank you, thank you, thank you” for every day without ceasing.
The more the Holy Spirit brought the reality to the forefront of my thoughts, the more my circumstances were put into perspective. These momentary and temporal difficulties receded far into the back landscape of my mind (2 Corinthians 4:17.) I know that I am supposed to lift my eyes above my circumstances, but I had been allowing them to consume my thoughts and conversations with others. I had the power of the Resurrection to talk about, the joy of my Salvation, and the love letter of Jesus’ life, but all I had been talking about was the mundane. Forgive me, Lord! He told me exactly what to do to never fall into this pitiful state:
“You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.” Isaiah 26:3
And He will keep my friends who trust in Him as well. Praise the Lord!
Though I know Him, though I love Him, and deep down I trust Him (so deep down no one could see it lately), my complaining indicated a weakness in that trust that was interrupting my peace. If I had meditated more on Him and spent more time in thanksgiving, I would have been filled with peace. I know He is trustworthy, but I was surely not a walking advertisement, especially to the many nonbelievers I was meeting in my trials.
I needed to be like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who were facing being thrown into a fiery furnace unlike any we know today. They were willing to walk into that fire because they trusted the Lord so completely. In Daniel 3:17, they say to their persecutor:
“If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty's hand.” NIV
Yes, they knew God might let them be thrown into that fire, but they had absolute assurance that their God was sovereign and that there would be a victory through Him in the end.
You may have had a year full of trials. You may feel you have been in the furnace. You may not see how a certain problem will be resolved. I urge you to start thanking Him for the victory that will ultimately be yours through Him. Call to remembrance every fiery trial He has brought you through in the past. Remember how surprising He is in the way he brings about deliverance.
More than anything this Thanksgiving, thank Him for the gift of your salvation that brings peace. Thank him that today’s trials are momentary and that you will live a carefree, joyous life with Him in eternity after this short sojourn on earth. When you begin to fully focus on the thanksworthy gifts in your life, the momentary afflictions dwindle to earth size when juxtaposed to Heaven-size eternal blessings.