Thanksgiving is just days away and most of us will gather around dinner tables with family and friends and offer thanks. We’ll be thankful for our families. We’ll be thankful for our health. We’ll give thanks that we have a job. We may give thanks for a new baby in the family, or even for a new car. Some will give thanks for the freedoms we share as a nation. Others may thank God for saving faith and the gift of Jesus.
But then, for some of us Thanksgiving does not seem so easy. This year there is an empty spot at the dinner table, and thanksgiving comes hard. This year jobs were hard to come by and maybe the table isn’t as well filled as in past years, and thanksgiving comes hard. Maybe this year you saw more doctors than you ever wanted to see, and it isn’t over yet. Maybe this year every time the phone rang you feared more bad news, a credit card past due, a child in trouble at school, a friend facing divorce. Thanksgiving can be hard.
Paul tells encourages us to “Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. (1 Thessalonians 5:18 NIV) We know that God wants us to have thankful hearts, but pain, doubt, and fear get in the way. This is when we really need faith.
Most of the time we give thanks based on what we see and feel. That is easy. We can see and hold a new baby. We can hug our family and friends. We can feel the love when we laugh together across the dinner table. But it takes faith to offer thanks when times are tough.
Faith helps us see past the problems. By faith we know that our current struggles are temporary and fleeting. By faith we remember God’s faithfulness in the past and look forward to His faithfulness in the future. By faith we look at around and see God’s hand even through our struggles, giving us strength through His Word, hope through His Presence, and help from His Church.
Thanksgiving, if it is about anything, is about renewing that faith. It is about dedicating a day to God and saying “Thank You!” It is about seeing our problems and struggles with the eyes of faith. It is about giving God the glory despite the trials we face. It is about honoring God with praise even when are hearts are hurting.
This year when you offer your Thanksgiving prayer, say a prayer for those who are hurting. May God reveal Himself to them on this special day. May He renew their faith that they may say with us, “Thanks be to God from whom all blessings flow.” Amen.
