11/22/2018
Today is Thanksgiving Day in the United States; a day when we corporately give thanks to God for His goodness, and many blessings throughout the past year. Years of joy make this easy, but, some years are filled with tragedy, mourning, and heartbreak... are we expected to thank God equally in those, or in the midst of our suffering too? Satan attempts to cast a veil over God’s joy, and to spotlight our sorrows and pain as a means of drawing us into his darkness... so friends, lift up your voices in thanksgiving this day, and always!
“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit.”
1 Thessalonians 5:16-19 ESV
Don’t let the veil of Satan stifle you, and blind you to God’s blessings. We are told to wait on God, and there is no spiritually greater time to do this than when we suffer, we weep in mourning, or our circumstances are crushing us! We can find blessings in our suffering if our own condition doesn’t preclude us from praying as we should. I have a favorite songwriter, and his name is Andrew Peterson. Andrew writes some of the most incredible lyrics, but none more beautiful and powerful than when he wrote the song “The Silence if God”. He sings one verse that contains these words... “the aching may remain, but the breaking does not” listen as he sings this song, and understand that God never abandons us, and is always worthy of our praise and thanksgiving.
https://youtu.be/cvytewIxll0
Yes, God turns the naturally occurring suffering of the world into something for which we can give thanks, and He reduces our heartbreak, which approaches being unbearable, into an ache we can shoulder.
“Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”
Romans 5:3-5 ESV
So even though hardship can make it difficult for us, our lives are not always ruled by suffering and pain, and there are many times, and years, of great provision and joy! In our greatest happiness and joy we find that praise and thanksgiving gush freely from us like a mighty geyser... shooting skyward in spectacular fashion!
“do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 4:6-7 ESV
Saying thank you to God for all that He has already done for us isn’t simply a case of our showing appreciation for the past, or giving Him payment for what He has already done. There is a very real thing that happens to us the very moment we begin to thank Him... we receive His peace, and our faith in Jesus Christ is magnified by it... not yesterday, or sometime in the past, and not tomorrow or the next day, but Right Now... the moment of our speaking, of our prayer.
Giving Thanks is the pinnacle of our joyful reveling in God’s glory, and it is also the evidence of our humble gratitude as we say thank you for the comfort He provides us when we fall on His shoulder and sob in mourning, pain, and sorrow. It is the comfort we find in taking respite from our anguish and thanking Him for the peace that flows into us at that moment.
Giving thanks to God should never be an afterthought to us, or saved up for one official day of the year. Thanksgiving is an everyday holiday for those who believe, and God’s peace and joy is not something we must remember, or wait for like the answer to prayer, but given us the moment we begin to pray our thanks. Harvest His joy right now, and let Him begin turning your heartbreak into a bearable ache; right now.
Children of God... lift up your voices as one people today, not only in the United States, but around the world because it doesn’t take a decree, or an official day, to thank our God! How wonderful it is to know that our voices are being woven in praise with all the others that are being lifted up this day... rushing across America, and around the world as the sun rises and we begin to say in prayer... “Thank You Father!”
Prayer:
Thank you Father for your many blessings. Thank you for your joy that fills my heart, and my voice, as I recognize you for the amazing goodness you have shown me... thank you, even when your light seems to shine dimly through my darkest nights of my suffering. Thank you for your Son Jesus Christ who was raised up from death and suffering to the great joy, peace, and thanksgiving, of all mankind! Thank you for your daily provision, even when it divides the times of hunger I might feel. Thank you for my family and for the birth of new life, even as it comes interspersed with the mourning of death that ushers the souls of my loved ones from here to you in eternity. Thank you for the hope that fills my life, and leads me by the hand through those times when Satan tries to convince me all is hopeless. Thank you for your strength of character that I find within myself as I pray and go about my day praying and thanking you without ceasing! Holy, Holy, Holy, are you my God who provides, heals, comforts, and rejoices! Praised be your name Holy Father, and hear my voice now and forevermore as I thank you for all you do in my life.
“And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”
Colossians 3:17 ESV
Rich Forbes