On Giving Thanks

November is upon us. The month of Thanksgiving. I have come to love this holiday in a much deeper way over the years. It's much more than turkey and football and food comas. It's about gratitude.  If there is one thing I have come to believe, it is this:

I've had plenty of times in my life when I have scoffed at the idea of gratitude. I've thought it was for happy people; the people who had everything going for them. It's easy to be grateful when the road is smooth. But what about when circumstances are far less than ideal? Maybe you find yourself on that road today. I can assure you I have walked the hard path. I've walked the road of a broken home, hurt relationships, financial strain, job loss, miscarriage, and fear...just to name a few. Are you there now? Are you wondering where your next mortgage payment is going to come from? Maybe you question if a broken relationship in your life will ever be made right. Perhaps you're smack dab in the middle of a fierce addiction and you don't know if you'll ever be free. Or your health is failing and you're terrified. Maybe your marriage is falling apart, or your kids seem out of control.

So what do we do with thanksgiving when we're in that place?

We give thanks anyway.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

"Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."

That's easy to say, I am aware. But it is so important to be obedient to it. This is God's will. Rejoice. Pray. Give Thanks. 

What if it's too hard? Let me point you to Lamentations, specifically chapter 3. Let's talk about a bad day. As you can guess from the name of the book, the author is full of sorrow. In chapter 3, the author goes on and on about all the terrible stuff that has plagued his life. It's so awful that in vs 17-18 he says, 

"I have forgotten what happiness is; so I say, 'My endurance has perished; so has my hope from the LORD.'" 

That is intense despair. Have you been there? Are you there now? Well thank the Lord, it's not where the story ends. After 20 verses of lament, take a look at what happens.
Verses 21-24:

But this I call to mind,

and therefore I have hope:

The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases;

his mercies never come to an end;

they are new every morning;

great is your faithfulness.

“The LORD is my portion,” says my soul,

“therefore I will hope in him.” 

What a shift! From no hope, to hope and thanksgiving. Gratitude changes everything. What happened? The author called to mind the truth that "the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness."  He recognized the goodness of God. He named it. He gave praise. He was thankful. And with that recognition of God's goodness came the beautiful return of hope. I beg you, please read this full chapter in Lamentations. It is golden. After this calling to mind, the tone of the chapter changes. Let me give you a bit of it.

37Who has spoken and it came to pass,
unless the Lord has commanded it?
38Is it not from the mouth of the Most High
that good and bad come?
39Why should a living man complain, a man, about the punishment of his sins?
40Let us test and examine our ways, and return to the LORD!
41Let us lift up our hearts and hands to God in heaven:
49“My eyes will flow without ceasing,without respite,
50until the LORD from heaven looks down and sees;
55“I called on your name, O LORD, from the depths of the pit;
56you heard my plea, ‘Do not close your ear to my cry for help!’
57You came near when I called on you; you said, ‘Do not fear!’
58“You have taken up my cause, O Lord; you have redeemed my life.

Do you see it? Yes, the lamentation is still there. It's not wrong to be grieved. But "let us lift up our hearts and hands to God in heaven." Recognize HIM. Praise HIM. Call to mind his faithfulness. If His faithfulness is not a reason to be grateful, I'm not sure what is. 

Psalm 50:23 says, "The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me; to one who orders his way rightly I will show the salvation of God."
The language in that verse catches me. Thanksgiving as a sacrifice. I've been reading through the book of Leviticus, so I've learned a couple things about sacrifices. It's wasn't just some flippant thing: grab a cow, take it to the priest, chant some words, all is well, I go home. No. It was bloody and messy process. It involved the death of something to make right a person's relationship to God. 

Sometimes choosing to give thanks really is a sacrifice. It's the choosing to kill our self pity and hurt and despair. Honestly, when we do not choose to live in gratitude, we despair because we are so wrapped up in our own little story. Poor me. Nothing goes how I planned. Why do I never get what I want? When we offer that sacrifice of thanksgiving, it's our own selfishness that we put on that altar. Thanksgiving puts us in a place to recognize God. To see how His glory eclipses every part of our life. When our eyes are open like that, we have joy.

So. Gratitude. Thanksgiving. It's the season for it. Maybe it's coming easy to you right now. Praise the Lord! But maybe you're walking a hard path. Maybe you can really relate to the author in Lamentations. Joy is needed in your life. Praise the Lord. Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Recognize His faithfulness and give thanks. Bring Him the glory He so rightly deserves and you will find joy. You will find hope. You will find love.

You will find everything you ever needed. 

"Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for His steadfast love endures forever."     

 -Psalm 118:1