Thankful

I begin my daily prayers with the same sentiment every time - "Heavenly Father, thank you for this day You have made. I will rejoice and be glad in it." So now that we're approaching the Thanksgiving holiday, it's not difficult for me to express gratitude since I'm in the mode of doing so daily. 

Something I've been conveying a lot lately in our weekly "Connect Group" is how I've been reflecting on things I prayed for consistently 10 and 20 years ago, and how so many of those prayers have since been answered. So whenever I catch myself expressing dismay over anything these days, I do a "self-check" by reminding myself that I have so much of what I've been praying for. As such, it immediately triggers a spirit of thankfulness while also serving as a reminder of God's precious promises. Sure, there are still going to be seasons where there are struggles. But my go-to scripture for decades now has been 1 Thessalonians 5:18, which says "Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus." It may seem counter-intuitive to give thanks in a circumstance involving, say, a death of a loved one or a financial crisis. But notice it doesn't say to be thankful for those things, but rather in those circumstances. Because in every circumstance, God is faithful and thus will never leave us nor forsake us.

For my money, that's the ultimate reason to give thanks......and not just during the holiday season. 

--------------------------------------------