Exercises for a Season of Thanksgiving
Dear friends,
Technology baffles me and sometimes seems not to like me. I found out that my Thanksgiving blog did not go out automatically as it is set up to do. After rereading this blog about giving thanks in our circumstances, it seemed the perfect blog to end 2020 on. If we could defy our enemy and give thanks in this difficult year, I believe we would see a smile on our Father’s precious lips, so here it is:
Exercises for a Season of
Thanksgiving
My physical therapist as well as a young friend of mine and several others around me have been so excited about Thanksgiving they can barely contain themselves. I know, however, that not everyone is experiencing this natural overflow of thanks and gratitude this year. Here are a few heart exercises to “Turn your eyes upon Jesus” and “Look full in His wonderful face.”
First of all, be honest with yourself and with the Lord. Sometimes there is a circumstance that is overshadowing your gratitude and not allowing you to get in touch with the genuine thankfulness that is buried somewhere in your heart. But read this statement of commitment and perseverance to rejoice in the Lord no matter what in Habakkuk 3:17-19 and answer questions 1-3.
17 Though the fig tree should not blossom,
nor fruit be on the vines,
the produce of the olive fail
and the fields yield no food,
the flock be cut off from the fold
and there be no herd in the stalls,
18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord;
I will take joy in the God of my salvation.
19 God, the Lord, is my strength;
he makes my feet like the deer's;
1. Reword the first part of this passage and then say the revised version to the Lord. You probably don’t have a fig tree or a sheep, but what in your life is not going right or do you have fears could go wrong? You might pray, “Though there is distance between my adult child and me, and our budget took a hit and we cannot afford much for Christmas, and I have extensive arthritis, and I am not happy in my church, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior, etc. Tell Him all about it bluntly the way you would tell a friend you would call and vent to, but this Friend has the power to actually change your heart and change your circumstances. Pour it out. Tell Him you do not want to be ungrateful, but you need His help to get your mind and heart right and to be as thankful as you know you should be. He will help.
2. Think about verse 18: “yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation.” When you have rejoiced in the Lord in the past, what did that look like? Did you sing? Did you attend a Thanksgiving morning service as we do at my church? Did you just spend 30 minutes of alone time with the Lord telling Him you love Him and then being quiet and silent and still with Him so He could cover you with His love for a peaceful break in your busy life? If you have never actively rejoiced in the Lord or paused to take joy in the astounding fact of your salvation, consider starting your own new Thanksgiving tradition. Take a few minutes to write Him a letter or email as you would write a thank you to any good friend. Take a drive to an especially beautiful spot near your home and get out of your car and spend some time just rejoicing about how He delivered you from what could have been and gave you the gift of your salvation. Read aloud several of your favorite praise Psalms.
One way of rejoicing that was very hard for me to start but that I now love is singing to Him. It helped that my sister gave me my own hymnal. I now have gone online and copied my favorite hymns and choruses and made myself a handout I use for praise. Mind you, my singing is so bad it was often the cause of both of my sisters falling down in giggles whenever they stood by me when I sang in church, but I know the Lord hears it as a joyful noise.
3. Think of a gift someone gave you one time that caused you great joy—maybe that first bicycle or a piece of jewelry. How did you react? How did your face look? How did you feel? Now contemplate God presenting you with the gift of salvation and the lifelong companionship and aid of the Holy Spirit. How does this gift compare? How does that make you feel? Gratitude is a choice and most years requires intentionality.
4. Finally, contemplate what verse 19 really means: “God, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer's.” The Psalmist here has grasped fully that the Lord is his strength—all the time, in all circumstances big and small, and even in 2020! The person crying out to the Lord here realizes he does not have to be strong or wise or on top of things because the Lord his strength will be all that for him. Hallelujah! If you can fall back into the arms of Jesus and just let Him carry you above your circumstances, you instantly become lighter. You lose the heaviness you may have been carrying around unnecessarily as you have tried to bear your burdens yourself. When you are that light, your feet become like a deer’s and you can prance over the circumstances because the heavy work is being done by the everlasting arms that are holding you up and working out the details of how things will be resolved. That is not your job and you are not as good at it as you may think. Casting your burdens on Him allows you to run through life with the joy and grace of a deer. Your family needs to see you do that. Your neighbors, co-workers, and friends need to see that the heaviness in your life has been abdicated to your powerful and effective Lord and that you confidently trust Him with it.
The deer does not run tentatively or haltingly or keep checking to see if his haunches are strong enough or his feet are placed correctly. He just runs for the joy of running. Run your race with joy, dear friend!