Wednesday, November 21, 2012
THANKSGIVING
While intending to write something about thankfulness, I ran across this quote:
"Praise which extends only from prosperity is closer to idolatry than thankfulness.” Dag Hammarskjold
Sort of puts a kink in my process as I try to make my Thanksgiving Day list.
You know something? Let’s be real here. Life is hard. I could make a list, and you could make a list, and our kids could each make a list. All good reasons it’s hard to keep a thankful attitude. So I memorized this verse “In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.” And to be honest it helped, but there was something missing. I try to remember to be thankful. I try to thank God for all the amazing things he’s done in my life. But the other stuff keeps getting in the way. It’s so much easier to think about the fact that a broken leg hurts than the fact that the rest of your body is healthy.
Then a friend said something to me a few weeks ago. She said “I stopped focusing on thanking God for the things he’s done for me and started thanking him for being good.” You see, God’s plans and vision are so much bigger than what we could ever understand. So much of it we are not even meant to understand. If we try to change our attitude by focusing on what he has done for us, we are still focusing on OURSELVES. I think the whole point is to focus on him. HE IS GOOD BECAUSE HE IS GOD.
God is Good. Not because I have two amazing kids, my health, a house and car, or even good friends. God is good not because of what he has given me, but because of who he is. He is good because he is God.
During the month of November, many of my friends have been posting daily thanks. It’s a great idea. Thankfulness is always a good idea. But don’t forget that its quite likely that most of those things you are thankful for this year had no part of the first Thanksgiving. When everything else is stripped away we are STILL to be thankful. What for if not even for family and good friends? Be thankful that God is God and that God is Good. Sing those praises and be truly thankful.
Psalm 34:8
Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.
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And in our thankfulness we are undoubtedly stirring others hearts in a painful way. Because there's so much hurt around us,horrible economy,others may not be 'there' spiritually or know God at all to be able to be thankful. For that is where our true heart of thankfulness comes from. Knowing all good things come from the Lord.
ReplyDeleteBut if we do as you say(which I was going to start tomorrow)and praising God for who He is,that is something others can consider.....maybe spuring one another on to seek Him.
I love this post and Ronda is so right in her comment. It's sad that it probably will and even does stir others' hearts in a painful way. At that point though, all we can do is be thankful ourselves and pray for everyone else to experience that peace as well.
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