"Tell the Turkeys Thanks for Giving"

Do you know what it costs for you on Thanksgiving to have a filled stomach, memorable family time and another reason for a public holiday?

The life of a turkey.

Wow. Thank you, turkeys.

Friends, "give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus" (1 Thess. 5:18) - the words of a guy who was stoned, put in jail, shipwrecked and had a bunch of other problems.

I won't lie. Being thankful isn't the easiest thing in the world especially when your spirit feels crushed or your circumstances look grim or your prayers go unanswered. You are not alone. I empathize with you and I want to encourage you.

To give thanks is a spiritual discipline, with the emphasis on discipline. It calls for us to humble ourselves and believe that God is who He says He is and He will do what He says He will do. Sometimes, we need to swallow our pain, look beyond our sorrow and utter words of thanksgiving even from a broken heart.

"But what can I be thankful for? Nothing's going right. Clouds of depression and doubt weigh on me with a burden too heavy to bear. I don't see any solution or hope in any of my miserable circumstances. Be thankful for what?"

I hear you. God hears you. I hope this truth speaks to you as it spoke to me...

I've learned that God is actually living and active. I don't have to be the beneficiary of God's goodness to see that He is doing good around me. For me, simply knowing that there is miraculous good happening around me points to a God who is good. To know that there is a God who is good is more than enough reason for me to be thankful because that good God promises that I am not alone. That good God personified Hope and Love wearing sinful flesh to suffer with me and give me life!

"But how do I see the 'miraculous good happening around me'?" This is a great question that must be asked.

As I waited on the Lord, He placed this story on my heart: Jesus healing the ten men with leprosy. I'm going to drop you right into the action...

"When [Jesus] saw them, he said, 'Go, show yourself to the priests.' And as they went, they were cleansed. One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him" (Luke 17:14-15).

I just want to draw on the differences between the nine and the one. I am so convicted.

"As [the ten] went, they were cleansed".

"When [the one] saw he was healed, [he] came back, praising God".

These men, every one of them, experienced God and only one of them recognized it (I'll call him Jared for the sake of convenience).

1. They met Jesus!

2. They went through a process of healing.

3. They were healed.

Get this: Nine have only to be thankful for the third blessing. Jared, on the other hand, was thankful for all three because (1) Jared recognized that God healed him - He "praised God in a loud voice" and "threw himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him" and (2) Jared recognized that he went through a process of healing and was actually healed - Jared "saw he was healed"!

What an example Jared has set for us! Recognize what the Lord has done in your life and/or around you. For us, the equivalent to Jared seeing that he was healed is examining our lives and recognizing that God's doing some crazy good things, however big or small! We can be thankful. In fact, (and with an empathetic heart I say this) the struggle, hardship and pain that you are going through right now is something to be thankful for. If Jared never had leprosy, he couldn't be healed of it.

This is a fact: God is faithful! He won't let you suffer without being with you in the suffering.

Keep your eyes peeled for God's goodness. Trust me when I say you don't want to miss out.

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Here's a reflection exercise. Thinking back to the turkey example from the beginning, I want to change the question a bit. Think about Jesus' death on the cross. What did Jesus' death on the cross pay for? What does it enable you to do? What would be missing if Jesus never took that upon himself?

The turkey's death allows us to have dinner, conversations with others as we share it, etc.

Jesus' death allows us to pray, enter into God's presence, be saved from the judgement we deserve, etc. Take some time to think about these things and give thanks!

~ Happy Thanksgiving ~

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Heavenly Father, make me more aware of your presence.

Make me more aware of the amazing things you're doing in my life and around me. I might be going through a rough season of life right now, but I can be thankful that good will come out of it because You are faithful and You keep your promises. Now that I think of it, it took an innocent man hanging naked on a bloodied cross to express that even though you know me completely - all my faults, shortcomings, inadequacies, wretchedness - You still fully and truly love me. Thank you, Jesus. I don't want to ever go a day without thinking about what it costs for me to simply live that day out!

In Jesus' name, amen.