THANKSGIVING:  Humble or Grumble?

By Dan O’Deens – November 26, 2020

As I reflect on this past year I am humbled.  I realize that so much of what I am thankful for today was born out of deep hurt or excruciating circumstances.

I have been guilty of assuming that God is pleased with me when He is blessing me and angry with me when He is seemingly distant.   Many are hurrying through Thanksgiving and setting up their Christmas decorations.  That is ok!  The story of Christmas has so much to do with Thanksgiving.  God is with us…Emmanuel!   He is with us in the good times and the bad times.   My life is a journey and has many chapters all of which play into God’s EPIC story.

“I tend to take all the gifts, pleasures, happiness and the joy without saying much to God.  I take my health, strength, food, clothing and my loved ones, all for granted; but the moment anything goes wrong I start grumbling and complaining and I begin to think, ‘Why would God do this to me, why is this happen to me?’  ‘2020 Sucks…COVID Sucks!’ How slow I am to thank and how swift I am to grumble.”

“That I may publish with the voice of thanksgiving and tell of all thy wondrous works.” Psalm 26:7

The Lord is my strength and shield, I trust him with all my heart, He helps me, and my heart is filled with joy.  I burst out in songs of thanksgiving.  Psalm 28:2

He who brings an offering of praise and thanksgiving honors and glorifies Me; and he who orders his way aright to him I will demonstrate the salvation of God.  Psalm 50:23

“Perhaps it takes a purer faith to praise God for unrealized blessings than for those we once enjoyed or those we enjoy now.”  A. W. Tozer

Thankfulness is the “chief exercise of godliness” in which we ought to engage during the whole of our life. “Gratitude is the heart … of the Christian life.”

This Thanksgiving I am Humbled.   Thank you Lord Jesus for the blessings you have ‘breathed’ into my life.   AND, thank you for the refining ‘fires’ that you have allowed to identify the rough edges and impurities in my life.  May you continue to mold me into a humble and grateful vessel that in that brings offers thanksgiving in the good times and in the difficult times.

Happy Thanksgiving!   #2020