Thankful

“...Be filled with the Spirit…giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” ~Ephesians 5:18, 20

Is thanksgiving a regular part of your psychological routine? For most of us it is not. Too often, we allow the foxes of frustration to ruin the vines of thankfulness and the flies of negativity to ruin the ointment of gratitude. A moment’s reflection should check this unruly habit.

From the first moment of your existence, mercy has poured in upon you from all sides—rich, repeated, wondrous, carefully designed mercy. Your body is fearfully and wonderfully made. You have a rational, immortal soul capable of knowing God, understanding His ways, solving many problems, and avoiding many dangers that would otherwise befall a more hapless creature.

You live in a beautiful world brightened by the sun by day and gently illuminated by the wondrous beauty of the moon and the stars by night. An enormous variety of plants and animals surround you with vibrant colors, cheerful sounds, and soothing splendor. In the morning, the joyous chirping of birds greets you. On a walk in the woods, the rustling wind high up in the trees and the happy gurgling of a stream all conspire to soften the cracked soul.

From our helpless infancy upwards, we have been surrounded by caring friends and family who loved us. We were never truly alone. There has always been someone to whom we could turn.

Compared to the rest of the world, we live in a land of enormous privilege and freedom. A mostly wise government has protected us from the rampant crime, evil, and unrest many other nations have to endure. Unlike Ukraine’s, our wars have all been fought in far-off lands, while our own land has enjoyed remarkable peace and prosperity. Compared with the rest of the world, we are exceptionally well off when it comes to financial prosperity and the availability of competent health care professionals.

God is the author of all these blessings. They do not begin with the creature. They do not come by chance. They all flow from His fatherly hand. 

Consider for a moment how His providence has delivered you and yours from disaster. Others were crippled, maimed, or killed by calamitous accidents and illness, but not you. Even when the hand of providence denuded your life of one treasure or another, it did not strip you of every delight. And looking back over our lives with the eye of faith, can’t we say with the psalmist, “It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes” (Psalm 119:71)?  Every loss and every cross, furthermore, is accompanied by the Father’s favor and promise: All things must work together for your good! If God is for you, who can stand against you? Nothing can separate you from the love of God.

God may at times seem to take everything else away from us, but He will never take away that. His heart will always be with us! The Father will always be our Abba. His Son will always be our Savior. His Spirit will always be the One called alongside to help. When we feel lost in the darkness and fear that the light around us has become night, even the darkness is not dark to Him and night is as bright as the day. He knows the way that we take, and when He has tried us we will come forth as gold.

All of these blessings are received by those who deserve only His wrath and curse. Instead, when you were dead in sins, He quickened you. When you were without God, without hope, and without Christ in the world, He drew you to Jesus and opened your eyes to see Him standing with arms spread wide, ready to receive you. After you came to Jesus, when you wandered, He came and found you. When you sank in despair, He was the one who lifted up your head, sending just the right word, at just the right time, from just the right friend to encourage you. When you were surrounded by enemies, He was your friend. When danger came knocking at your door, He was your refuge. When you were weak, He was your strength. When you were under pressure, He was your help in tight places, always close at hand. Whether today is your best day or your worst, look over your shoulder and what do you see? You see God’s two sheepdogs trotting along behind. He calls the one goodness and the other He calls mercy. They are always there, especially when you can’t sense their presence.

This is all the more amazing when we consider that all of these blessings are bestowed on creatures who deserve not the least mercy—creatures who deserve to be stripped of every mercy and to be left miserable through time and eternity. As we enter another season of thanksgiving, let us remember the vast difference separating what we deserve from what we receive. As the psalmist well observed, “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits” (Psalm 103:2).