What a joy to begin this blog at Thanksgiving, the day when we all come together in corporate thanks to God.
Most of us welcome Thanksgiving as a time of fellowship with family, a day of feasting, and a day of remembering all of the year’s past blessings.
With all the chaos of the world around us, Thanksgiving is a day when we as a nation collectively recognize all that is right, rather than all that is wrong. Thanksgiving is a day when we sift through the realities and discover what is good. For this one day we as Christians put aside the pride of our individual achievements and thank Him for all the good in our lives, recognizing that all good things come from God.
But for some of us, Thanksgiving seems to be at odds with where we are in our circumstances.
A house is in foreclosure, a child is in rebellion, the recent diagnosis from the doctor riddles us with fear. Being thankful? For what? The hollowness of Thanksgiving may make even the taste of turkey dry up in our mouths as our minds dwell on all that is wrong, not all that is right.
But for anyone who finds themselves in this situation, the irony of Thanksgiving is that in spite of
. . . No, actually, because of . . .
the problems we bemoan in our lives, the celebration of Thanksgiving can become the very thing to lift us out of where we are into where we want to be. For when we thank God, we bring Him into our presence. Praise and thanksgiving pleases God. And when the details of our lives give us less to be thankful about, a thankful heart touches God all the more deeply.
When we thank God and praise Him, we open a window into Heaven through which God smiles down upon us and surrounds us with His presence. The opportunity to be thankful is an inexplicably beautiful gift God has given us, a gift that brings Him into our presence and lifts our hearts out of the surrounding circumstances of our lives. Praising God and thanking Him brings us into beauty’s company where God’s glory outshines the tinsel and the dross of the world around us.
In some of the darkest moments of my life, I found that praising God cleansed the pain from my soul and helped me see more clearly. As the debris of doubt and fear cleared from my mind, I saw only God, only His love, only His comforting presence. His enormity was so overpowering and so overwhelming in the midst of praise that I knew I would be alright.
Tomorrow, as you wake up to that day we call Thanksgiving, begin by praising God. Let Him remind you of the good things He has brought into your life. But most of all thank Him for His love, which never ceases. Thank Him for being a big God that nothing can defeat. Thank Him that you have the incredible privilege of coming before the God of the universe and offering up your heart. Praise Him. Thank Him.
This Thanksgiving as you bring thanks to God, may it turn around to bless you with hope that comes to you in unexpected ways so that on November 29 you discover that you actually DO have more to be thankful for than you did the day before.
Happy Thanksgiving.
“Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom.” Psalm 145:3
Hi Linda, How are you? This is Glenda Rosa, I attended your Marriage 911 class at Northland… twice. Thank you for allowing God to use you and your husband in such a migthy way. God restored my marriage through a lot of work that my husband and I put into it, but your book, your testimony and the class were definitely vessels that God used to help us in the process. Thank you again.. I’m so happy to be part of your blog!
Glenda, how happy I am to hear from you!. I remember you well and am so glad your marriage has been restored. Praise God for His goodness! And welcome to my blog.