Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. I love gathering with family around a table of good food and having time to just visit with them. But I also love the whole idea behind Thanksgiving--a time to reflect and give God thanks for all His many blessings.
I have so many reasons to be thankful, but this time of year I really try to look at all God has done for me. I am thankful for my family. I love that my siblings and I all live close and get to spend time with each other fairly regularly. I am thankful for my parents and the influence they have been in my life and all the support they have given me over the years.
I am thankful that God answered my prayers and put my husband, Ben, in my life. I do not take for granted how much he does for me and our kids. I am thankful that he seeks to serve the Lord and to lead our family spiritually.
I am so grateful for my three healthy, active children! Yes, there are times when I’m so tired of running and doing laundry and buying groceries, but I know I am blessed with three terrific teenagers!
I am thankful for my job that I love so much. I have a job that I look forward to doing each day, and I have a strong purpose and a passion in my field. I know there are many who do not have that.
I am thankful for the gift of music and how God uses it in my life to encourage me and lift me up. I’m so grateful for opportunities to sing and the ability to do so.
I could go on and on and on.
But this verse challenges me to be thankful in all circumstances. Wait -- all? I’m supposed to be thankful for that particular challenging student? For that difficult parent? For a boss that is impossible to please? For a coworker who is really hard to work with?
Yes. I believe we are supposed to be thankful for those circumstances, as well. I believe that in each situation, God is working to either bless me or someone else. He is working to mold me and make me more like Jesus, or He is giving me an opportunity to grow my faith or the faith of someone else around me.
That challenging student forces me to rely on God and turn to Him in prayer for wisdom and guidance. When I am challenged, I understand that I can do nothing and that I need God every single day. Usually, my most difficult students are going through (or have been through) challenges themselves, and I have to depend on God to know how to be the best I can be for them. And I can be thankful for students that force me to spend more time with God.
That difficult parent gives me the opportunity to show the kind of grace that God has given me. God has poured out His grace for me over and over. I don’t deserve that. Difficult parents may not deserve that kind of treatment either, but that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t give it. They remind me of what I have received - forgiveness, mercy, love, grace -, and I can be thankful for that.
That boss that is impossible to please reminds me that I am not working to gain approval from men, but from God alone. (And no, I am not working for a boss like that right now!) It is easy for me to lose my focus in the day-to-day grind and to seek recognition from the wrong places. But when someone in my life is overly critical, I turn to God. Over and over again the Bible teaches us to humble ourselves, but sometimes I need help staying humble. So I can be thankful for those whom God puts in my life to help me with that.
That coworker that is hard to work with may be someone God has placed in my path so that I can minister to her. It may be that she is going through something really hard, and God wants to use me to encourage her and speak truth into her life. I can be thankful for an opportunity to be a blessing.
In each and every circumstance, God has a plan. Those people in your life that are so hard to be thankful for -- you may be on their list of things they’re thankful for. Each and every one of those difficult people is an opportunity to be a blessing. And even if they are never grateful for you, you can be thankful that God placed them in your life.
I know it’s not easy, and I do not always do it right, but I am going to try to be thankful in all circumstances, and not just Thursday. I want to have this heart full of gratitude all year round.
God, I know I often fail to thank You for all You’ve done for me. In fact, it is easy to complain about some situations in my life. Forgive me. Help me to do better. Remind me to be thankful for all You have done and also for all You are doing, even when I don’t understand or see the good in it. Thank You, Lord, for Your great love and patience with me, even when I fail to be grateful for Your many blessings.
For Small Groups
Share about a time in your past when you have experienced God’s blessings through a difficult circumstance. Someone else needs to hear your story!
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