Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, and I am sure everyone is busy traveling, planning for company or out getting that forgotten ingredient at the grocery store. (Sorry if that’s you!)
I have some baking to do, and my guys are outside trying to weather-proof our chicken coop. We have a lot of snow in the forecast over the next ten days, and we aren’t ready yet. (Brrr! It is cold and windy!)
So I have a couple of quick thoughts to share with you, in the hope of helping you have a very Happy Thanksgiving.
To be thankful, you have to know that you need something, and you have to understand that it has been provided for you. When we deny our own need, we deprive ourselves of the opportunity to be thankful.
To be grateful, you have to know that the thing you needed, the thing that was provided to you, came from somewhere. Or rather, it came from someone.
Let me put on my grammar nerd hat for a second and explain why I used “thankful” and then “grateful” like that. We usually say we are thankful for the thing we got that we needed, but we are grateful to the person who provided it. In other words, on a cold, windy day, you are thankful for your hat, but your hat came from someone. That someone is the person to whom you are grateful.
Why? Why should we be either thankful or grateful?
Well, when we only focus on the material things that we have, and forget to thank the giver, then we are missing something. If the person we should be thanking is God, then we have strayed into idolatry. It all comes from God, when you go all the way back.
I used to have a problem with thanking God, because I worked hard for the few things I had, and I didn’t see why I had to thank Him for it when it was my work that provided it. But He gently showed me that He invented my body and gave it to me. He designed my brain and provided me with specific abilities that I needed to develop. It all came from Him. He gave me the strength to keep working. He provided the opportunities so I could prove myself and get a job. He allowed me to be born in a place that had electricity on for 24 hours a day, and I had parents that gave me books . . .and then I saw that it all comes from God in the first place.
If you follow the Lord Jesus Christ, then you will follow what He did. Jesus gave thanks repeatedly. He thanked His Father, God, for revealing wisdom (Luke 10:21), He thanked God for the food He miraculously fed to the 4,000 (Matthew 15:36), and the 5,000 (John 6:11). He gave thanks when Lazarus was raised (John 11:41-42), and He also gave thanks at the Last Supper (Luke 22:19, Matthew 26:27, and Mark 14:23.)
Let me emphasize that: Jesus gave thanks right before He followed His Father’s orders and went to the cross. He was thankful in all circumstances. If we are true followers of Jesus, then we will do what he did.
That’s why the Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Thessalonians 5:18, “In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”
You don’t have to have all of your needs met in order to give thanks. When do we ever feel like all of our needs have been met? I will say this, though: When I begin to give thanks for things, at first I can only think of one or two. “Thank you for my ability to walk,” I may think. “Thank you for a warm home.” But as I continue on, I realize how much I have to be thankful for, things that I didn’t even remember I had!
We get used to our blessings and we start to feel entitled. “Well, of course my lungs work! Why shouldn’t they?” But when we see someone struggling to breathe in an asthma attack, or someone with COPD, we quickly thank God, then. We just need a reminder of what it would be like to go without. And remember, so many dear people struggle for just the bare necessities.
Giving thanks is an act of your and my will, and with practice, it can become a state of mind. It starts with a will, and then becomes a genuine, heartfelt “thank you” to God. I have found that sometimes God rewards our will to be thankful with the help we need to feel the emotion of thankfulness.
And as with all of God’s commands, which are given for our benefit, there is a blessing when we obey. In this case there are multiple blessings! But one of them is revealed in Psalm 100:4a: “Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise.” When we thank God, we are ushered into His presence! When we are grateful to God, we are granted an intimate audience with Him.
Sometimes during the holidays, we are bombarded with the things of this world, and our emotions get all twisted up. We are concerned with expectations and schedules, and are seeing things very much from our own perspective. We feel a strong need for peace, and may be tempted to just run away from it all. We may forget to consider the needs of others, or to remember how very blessed we are. (If you are able to read this, then trust me, you are very blessed, indeed!)
All that psychological clutter leads to a feeling of inner loneliness. But remember, you are never really alone.
Are you feeling far from God? I am giving you permission to just take a break. Clear your mind of fear, doubt, worry and anger, and“be thankful unto Him and bless His name. For the Lord is good. His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures unto all generations.” (Psalm 100:4b-5)
When you look at it this way, being grateful (or thankful–however you want to think about it!) isn’t a chore. It’s not like a list you have to compile so you can complete an assignment. Rather, it’s a reminder of the love God showed you in the past through specific physical, emotional or spiritual blessings. I keep a journal just for that purpose, because we forget! And when you realize all that you have received, that reminder becomes the road to joy!
So if the most powerful, richest, most beautiful One in the world (the One who loves you), reminds you to think of all He has done for you, just rest in that. And if Aunt Suzie makes fun of your gravy, just be thankful that she came to visit, and then tell her that! A soft answer really does turn away wrath (Proverbs 15:1). Rest in His presence and in His devoted care through an acknowledgment of all He has done.
“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need and thank Him for all He has done, and the peace of God which passes all understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6 NLT and 7 KJV)
May you and yours have a peaceful, loving Thanksgiving time with your dear ones! Happy Thanksgiving to you all from The Fullers Four!
The Fullers Four 