I love the Thanksgiving holiday! It is a time the extended family gathers to enjoy a couple of days of being together. Generations sit around the same dinner table to partake in their favorite Thanksgiving Day cuisine. Of course, there is the multitude of board games that fill the house with laughter, and the football games that serve both as entertainment and an excuse to take a tryptophan-induced nap.   

This year, however, Thanksgiving will be unlike previous holidays! For some, this year’s meal will be missing a family member who was at the table last year. Others will not be able to gather at all due to Covid-19 restrictions. Still, others will find themselves all alone for the first time on Thanksgiving. Even football will not be the same as stadiums will be mostly empty and crowd noise artificially piped in for the television audience.

So, with all this chaos and disruption, what do we have to be thankful for?

The Apostle Paul addresses this question by challenging the concept that blessing is only found when we are experiencing “the good life” — when things are going as planned. He points out to us that God is always working out things for our good! Yes, He is at work even when we are going through difficult circumstances like we are experiencing today! That is great news! God doesn’t just help us when everything is working out, but He works just as hard to bring blessing into our lives when we are faced with every kind of trial!

Paul goes on to say that some of our most important, life-changing blessings are the result of trusting God during tough times. 

And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;  perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. (Romans 5:2b-5)

Ultimately, our sufferings produce hope. It is the kind of hope based on God’s love for us. So, when I read Paul’s words of encouragement, and I see where struggle leads, I have not only hope in God’s love, but I am genuinely thankful.

Here are a few reasons to be thankful today:

1. Thank God that you are no longer an enemy of God but His child!
2. Thank God that you are no longer subject to God’s wrath but a recipient of His favor!
3. Thank God that you are no longer separated from Father God because of your sin but now reconciled through Jesus Christ; nothing can separate you from coming to God and receiving his favor and blessing — not even trials, tribulation, or death!

Join me this holiday, giving thanks and praise to our God, who both delivers from and leads us through all that life can throw at us. To Him be glory and honor and thanksgiving throughout all eternity!

Happy Thanksgiving!