I love Thanksgiving time.
It is a time of looking at how much the Lord has blessed you and truly be thankful. However, should this really be the only time of year we look around us and see how much the Lord has done for us?
No, it should be minute by minute, hour by hour, day by day, week by week, month by month, and year by year.
Unfortunately, I am finding in this world that true thankfulness is becoming a thing of the past.
For example, the simple courtesy of hearing a "thank you" when the door was opened for someone or if something was given to an individual is becoming less and less.
What about even the daily weather? We want it hotter or colder. We want more rain or less rain. We want snow or no snow. We want the weather to be "perfect" on our own terms of what makes us happy in a days time!
I have experienced a lack of thankfulness and an increased in wantingness and whiningness (my own words, thank you...) that have caused me to ponder the true meaning of thankfulness.
We only want to be thankful when it is on our own terms and we feel certainly BLESSED by God with good health, wealth, and an undisturbed life.
My heart's desire is always to be thankful, and I have been asking the Lord to put a guard on my heart and mouth that a complaining spirit would be far from me.
I am truly human and have failed at that many times, but I will say, the Lord has caused me to stop and think before my mouth is opened. I want to examine my heart before words spill out and cannot be placed back in my mouth.
Is what I am saying glorifying to the Lord for all He has done for me?
But wait.... I know, I know... you may be sitting there saying, "But Kellie, YOU haven't faced what I have faced! It is kind of hard to be thankful!"
Yes, you are right. I may not know what you are going through... but I know Who does.
Today in church I was reminded that the Apostle Paul wrote about thankfulness many times. He wrote those words while in prison.
A stinky, dark prison.
No new clothes.
No 3 meals a day.
Probably varmints everywhere.
But yet he reminded us often to be thankful.
I loved this verse that was brought to my attention again this morning:
Ephesians 5:20 - Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Give thanks.
Always.
For all things.
ALL THINGS?
We have food. Be thankful.
We have clothing... even if it is not the latest and greatest. Be thankful.
We have a place to call home. Be thankful.
(Even Jesus did not have a place on this earth to call "home.")
We have electricity. Be thankful.
We have vehicles... even if they are not "new" they still get us from Point A to Point B. Be thankful.
We have heat or air conditioner in our homes. Be thankful.
Get the point?
What about the dark times... the hard times in a person's life?
The loss of a loved one.
The loss of personal possessions.
The loss of health.
A wayward teenager.
A broken marriage.
This year I can look back and see where I or one of my family members/friends has experienced all or part of those. I can honestly say that YES... we can give thanks even through ALL of those things.
Why?
Because the Lord will always use them for good. It may not be the "good" that we think... but we do not know the story of our life as the Lord does.
I am not the person I was a year ago and it is all thanks to the Lord for the trials He brought to me in 2014 that have driven me to Him.
My Comforter.
My Healer.
My Friend.
My Glorious Savior.
I am reminded of this song and have sung it often recently..... clung to it at times... when the darkness seems to close in... and still I can say "Blessed be the name of the Lord!"
I challenge YOU to do the same.
