It’s the month of Thanksgiving here in the US – and my thoughts undeniably turn to giving thanks throughout the month. Because I continue to work in a ministry position, I love spending November thinking about all those I need to thank and frequently send out multitudes of email cards to colleagues, ministry partners, and donors. Even all the Europeans I know, while they do not celebrate a national Thanksgiving like Americans do, have a deep appreciation for how we, as a nation, pause to give thanks to our Father Creator.
At this stage of life, it is easy to review the decades and give thanks for the many blessings we have received, even in the midst of the challenges, disappointments and griefs that have marked our lives. We know we are called to be grateful at all times and in all circumstances, but this one season of the year really calls out those words and actions which say to all, “We thank you, Father in heaven, for every good gift you bestow on us, while we sleep, when we are awake, when we realize what you have given and when we don’t.”
But another aspect of gratitude that God gently reminds me of is the attitude with which I gave thanks. Two examples from my life stand out and make me examine where my heart is – am I giving thanks because I know I should or am I giving thanks because I’m genuinely in a posture of gratitude that fully understands what God so bountifully gives to me?
20 years ago (or so) Bob and I were gifted an amazing trip to Israel with Ray Vander Laan. He embedded in our minds Psalm 103 as a psalm of gratitude to the Lord, a psalm we should pray through every day as a thank offering to our Creator. The Israelites were obedient to give thanks and praise and used this psalm as a framework to worship the Lord for all his blessings and benefits. It begins…
Praise the Lord, my soul;
all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
2
Praise the Lord, my soul,
and forget not all his benefits—
3
who forgives all your sins
and heals all your diseases,
4
who redeems your life from the pit
and crowns you with love and compassion,
5
who satisfies your desires with good things
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
Just try to dissect that for a moment and you can begin to see that all of life is marked with praise to the Father. He is holy, he blesses us, he heals us, he saves us, he gives us love and compassion, he satisfies us, he restores us. WOW. Where else can you get such a good package of benefits?
I came home from Israel and memorized this Psalm so that I would remind myself daily of God’s abundant blessings and my need to be grateful. Am I daily living out Psalm 103: 1-2? Some seasons my gratitude is very active and some seasons I am very neglectful. I yearn to be more like a Cuban woman I met when I was doing short-term mission trip there…
So my second example of gratitude is clear in my mind, even after almost 10 years of experiencing a radical example of gratitude from a women I had never met until I entered her home to talk Jesus with her. A home with only open doorways and windows, dirt floors, outside toilets, and newspaper articles taking the place of artwork on the walls. There was a pallet she slept on in the kitchen, an outdoor coffee grinder station (not electric, of course), a living area and one bedroom that she kept prepared for unexpected guests (instead of using for herself). She looked at me as we stood in the middle of her cramped, dingy quarters and said, “please let me show you all God has given me,” and proceeded to take me through her small hut of a home.
I’m very aware that she lived in a small village and had no idea of the grandeur of Havana, its lovely government buildings and historical architecture – that she had nothing grandiose with which to compare her humble dwelling. But she radiated a sincere and genuine gratitude for what God had given her simply because she knew it was from him. How often is that my heart, even when the words sound right?
So I walked away with two thoughts – God forgive me for my lack of sincere gratitude for all you have given me, and give me a pure heart to thank you in complete sincerity and recognition of you being the source of all good gifts.
Praying we all remember to not only give thanks this Thanksgiving, but to give thanks with a sincere and pure heart, recognizing that in spite of our unworthiness, we are greatly loved and blessed by the Father.
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