Being Thankful
I heard someone say, 'Thanksgiving isn't really a religious holiday, you know like Christmas or Easter...' Well, it actually is a religious holiday even if it isn't celebrated as such by most. Thanksgiving is a holiday, not just to give 'thanks' in some general, non-specific way. It was established to give thanks to God, The God - the God of the Bible.
In 1789, George Washington made the first presidential thanksgiving proclamation. I'd like to read portions of that proclamation...
"Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor - and Whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me "to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God,"
Now therefore I do recommend...(the) day ...to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be - That we may then all unite in rendering unto him our sincere and humble thanks - for his kind care and protection of the People of this country previous to their becoming a Nation - for the signal and manifold mercies ... for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed,"
"And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech him to pardon our national and other transgressions... - to render our national government a blessing to all the People, by constantly being a government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed ... - To promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, ... - and generally to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as He alone knows to be best."
Sounds like a pretty religious holiday to me... God blesses us every day with so much we simply take for granted.
- When we pray, many times we ask God for 'His blessing'. What are we specifically asking Him? I suppose we're asking Him to 'watch over us'. But does that mean that if bad things happen - that perhaps God wasn't watching over us...? That He isn't blessing us? It's possible to develop a more thankful attitude, knowing that in everything - even when bad things happen...
I. God can bring good
God can bring blessings from anything! There is no situation too awful through which God cannot work! But sometimes, we have to wait - to endure to the other side to see those blessings. But that doesn't mean it doesn't hurt going through it. I wanted to share this story again...
Over 14 years ago now, Erin and I attempted to adopt a special needs baby. Together with a two year old Josie we flew out to California. Somehow, the adoption agency failed to understand the severity of this baby's health issues. They were completely unaware that he was not cleared to fly due to his underdeveloped lungs. His team of doctors explained that he needed to have surgery to have a feeding tube placed - another valuable part of information of which the agency was unaware. Based on Dr's recommendations, it was in the baby's best interest that we discontinue the adoption process. We flew home with an empty baby seat.
Now that was awful - but it could have been tragic if we'd not discovered the extent of his health issues and gotten on that plane with him. But even through our pain - a blessing emerged. According to California law, because the adoption was legally 'disrupted', the baby's extensive health issues were now completely financially covered and a family who previously could not afford to adopt him was now able to. - Because of our 'loss' he found his 'forever family'.
God is completely able to bring good out of any bad situation.
In the Old Testament story of Joseph and his 'coat of many colors', his brothers wanted him gone and sold him into slavery. Years later, they again ran into him, this time as a high ranking official in Egypt. Joseph told them...
Genesis 50:20 (NIV)
You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.
I think our understanding of God is frequently way too small. We ask for blessing, but forget just how BIG God is and what He can do! God loves me, used me in California for His purposes - and then blessed me with an opportunity to adopt another baby boy, Winston - just as God planned. It didn't mean there wasn't pain - there was; and is - but God's plans are so much bigger than ours and He's always prepared to bless us when we follow Him! It says this in Romans 8:28 (NIV)...
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
A lesson we need to learn, and I need to remember, is that when you are on God's side ...
A. He will bless you
It may not always be in the way you'd desire or even understand or appreciate at the time - but when you place your faith in Jesus, God will bless you!
***Video "How Big Is Your Table?"
Back in 2005, I was on staff with another Church. It was a good Church, but I had felt unsettled for quite a while. I spent a long time asking God for His leading. And it became clear that He was leading me in a different direction than I had planned. So, what does any responsible adult who had just moved into his house, that took a year to build, do? I quit my job. (I have a history of long house builds...) Back then, quitting was a huge leap of faith for me, but there was a very real sense of peace.
Then I had to go home and tell my wife... Amazingly enough, she was 'okay' with my decision. She'd felt God's tug, too. All we knew was that God taking us somewhere else, we just didn't know where. God knew.
It just so happened that Deep River was looking for a preacher at the time. My resume was actually late, but once again - God was looking out for me. The three months that I was unemployed were pretty scary - but God blessed me with an amazing Church family - you. God certainly blessed me in a way I didn't expect, and even more than I had asked. Thank you!
Ephesians 3:20-21 (NIV)
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, (21) to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
Here is a truth - It's easy to complain. There's no shortage of things about which to complain. God has given us so many blessings, more than we deserve - but sometimes...
B. We forget to say thanks
When life gets busy, we forget to say 'thanks', especially in hard times. 'Giving thanks' is not the natural tendency. That's why parents have to teach children to say 'thank you', to be grateful for what they're given.
In the Old Testament, God commanded 'giving thanks'. That may sound a little odd at first - commanding thanks. But just as parents have to teach an attitude of thanksgiving to their children, so too, God commanded several "thanksgiving" rites to Israel, His children. We read this in Deuteronomy 8:10-18 (NIV)...
When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the LORD your God for the good land he has given you. (11) Be careful that you do not forget the LORD your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. (12) Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, (13) and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied,
(14) then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. (15) He led you through the vast and dreadful desert, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock. (16) He gave you manna to eat in the desert, something your fathers had never known, to humble and to test you so that in the end it might go well with you.
(17) You may say to yourself, "My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me." (18) But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today.
The people of Israel needed to be reminded from where their good fortune came. Without God, they would have still been in slavery. The first thing we need to do in hard times is turn to God. He wants our attention, and the credit, in the good times as well.
When the people were told to remember God and to be thankful, God wanted action as well as words. He told the people that they were to have feasts and festivals and to make offerings - all to say 'thank you' to God. God thought of celebrations like "Thanksgiving" long before the pilgrims did.
In fact, there were quite a few celebrations, some lasting weeks - all with the purpose of reminding the Israelites just how much God had blessed them and how they should be thankful. There was "The Feast of Unleavened Bread", "The Day of Atonement", "The Feast of Tabernacles", multiple festivals all commanded to be celebrated for the purpose of thanksgiving. Do you think that God places a big emphasis on 'giving thanks'?
We need to be reminded how blessed we are for the express purpose of 'giving thanks' to God. ...But what do we do in those times when we are...
II. Waiting on blessings?
We know God wants to bless His children. We know God is good and can bring good out of bad. But do your struggles ever feel like you've just run a marathon, and at what you thought was the finish line - it's just the start of another marathon..? And at the end of that marathon, there's another one...? And at the end of that marathon, there's another one...? And at the end of that marathon... Do you ever feel like that? Are the big things on your prayer list the exact same big things year after year...?
We know that God answers prayers - but what can we do while we faithfully wait...? How do you set yourself up to be 'thankful' when you don't feel overly 'thankful'? One thing we can actively do to help change our feelings - we can look to the lives, the testimony of...
A. Other faithful followers
This is part of the beauty of God's design for The Church! One evening last week I got a call from Gertrude Mangione. She's on our prayer list; she's having yet another surgery next week. I think its okay to share - they didn't get all of the cancer. She was explaining all of this and we were talking about the 'marathon' of issues she has faced so far, but she was also talking about all her blessings. Her faith in God is what has gotten her this far and it will continue to carry her.
And then, she asked me how my family was as she's been praying for us. She knows we've got some medical issues with one of our boys. And I thought, 'Here you are dealing with cancer and you're concerned with my son and my family...' What can we do to become more thankful of the blessings we have? Look to the example of faithful followers and follow their example of gratitude. It says this in Hebrews 12:1 (NIV)...
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.
We all know those faithful ones who have gone before us who've run hard races and finished strong. And we can currently look around us, among this body, and see many who are running their own really hard races and somehow remaining faithful. If they can carry on and still 'be thankful' to God - so can I. But I think the real 'secret' to their faithfulness and gratitude than can inspire me - that's found in asking God to...
B. Change your heart
Notice I didn't say you just need to change your attitude. Those who remain faithful and grateful to God don't do so solely through any virtue of their own. They have allowed God to change their hearts. Remember earlier when I said, "'Giving thanks' is not the natural tendency." We can't change our hearts on our own. We need God to change our hearts.
Over two thousand years ago, God spoke this truth and promise to His chosen people, Israel, in Ezekiel 36:26-27 (NIV)...
I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. (27) And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.
In whatever situation you find yourself - if you struggle with thankfulness, ask God and He would love to change your heart!
So What?
Giving thanks encourages an awareness in me that there is nothing that is really mine, nothing that truly belongs to me. Everything I have is from God - I'm just a manager of these things. There is nothing that is mine, not even my own life. At some point, I will have to let go of this life. And even until that point, I don't own this life. I am here for God's purposes. He created me for His pleasure.
My life, every aspect of it, is a gift. I was bought with a price - you were bought with a price - Jesus Christ gave Himself so that we could enter Heaven. That demands a response. And the only proper response is 'thank you'. Our act of thanksgiving to God has to be action. When you celebrate this coming Thursday, show genuine love to those around you. Show your family the love of Christ. And may God continue to open our eyes to our many blessings!