Ever have a “crabby day?” I certainly have! In those moments, it is challenging to remember Paul’s encouragement to “give thanks to God, the Father, for everything.” The only thing that helps me through those days is knowing that my ability to give thanks comes from a power mightier than me. I give thanks in the name of my Lord Jesus Christ through whom all things are possible (Mt. 19:26). Knowing this does not relieve me of the responsibility to open my mouth or heart to a spirit of thanksgiving. It just means that I am able, despite my emotions at the moment, my level of fatigue, and my anxieties about the current state of the world or my life, to give thanks.
Friends, if indeed all good things come from God (James 1:17), then perhaps it is me that requires adjustments...the kind of adjustments that make it possible for me to see beyond whatever is making me feel ungrateful or worse to God working in and through everyone and every situation. It may not lift my spirits to come to this conclusion, but I have confidence that God is able. God is able to walk me through every situation, the light and the dark, the sunny and the downright hurricane-like.
Family, I have this confidence for you too. I give thanks, knowing that the God we serve is with you as God is with me and that at the end of it all, we will see God face to face and be safely amid his agape.
Happy Thanksgiving! I pray it will be a blessed one for you and your families.
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