Thanksgiving.

There are only five and a half months to go.  To be precise, we are 168 days away from one of the greatest celebrations of the year.  Get your fingers out and count it up - do you know the key date to which I’m referring?  It is Thanksgiving, of course.

Maybe it is because it is Spring (finally), or maybe it is because it is a blue-skied-sunny day (finally), or maybe the coffee is just right (yay!), but this morning I have a deep sense of gratitude for God’s faithfulness.

Later this morning, I will be taking our community donations to Hamilton Food Share.  I’m thankful that we could engage with our community in this way AND for their generous response.  I’ll update the total weight on Sunday.  Do you want to make a guess how many pounds?

I’m thankful that this weekend I was able to make preparations for the upcoming bee season.  Soon those crazy little concealed-stinger-carriers will be crawling over my hands, buzzing their joyful song of praise to the Creator of all things.  There is something meditative about being so close with some of the most amazing little critters God has put on this earth.  They can make time stand still.  Of course, an angry bee can make time - or at least your reflexes - speed up considerably.

I’m thankful for the faith conversations I’ve had with people over the last few weeks.  There were no turn-or-burn moments.  There were quiet chats about who Jesus is, why Easter matters, why faith matters.  God can be confusing and I’m thankful that I could confess my own confusion.  I was also able to explain that engaging in faith means we can have confidence in God, courage for life, and have a relationship with God even though we don’t understand Him.  I’m thankful to hear how others were able to encourage, share God’s faithfulness, and offer words of hopes with friends and acquaintances.  

There is a recurring theme in the psalms calling people to be thankful to God.  Thankfulness isn’t just about the “big things” - recovering from life-threatening illness, getting a new job, the birth of a baby.  It is also for the common, simple things in life:  the breath in our lungs, the beauty of a sunrise, the safety with which we transit to and from our daily activities.  The grace of God is the root of all of these things.

Let’s be honest, though.  While there are a LOT of thanksgiving psalms, the vast majority of psalms are lament psalms; psalms in which the author complains to God about his suffering, grief, and loss.  Having faith in God does not displace all cloudy days with unicorns and lollipops.  In fact, the grind can often be even more taxing as we seek to live by faith.  Prioritizing the pursuit of the Kingdom of God (Matt. 6:33), realigning our passions to those of Jesus’ kingdom, and changing our perspective from the temporal to the eternal (Phil. 3:7-11) will create stress.  A Kingdom-based worldview will create friction and discomfort.  How do we reconcile these two realities:  sometimes life IS hard, painful, and grievous (often because we are trying to live truthfully and with integrity) while other times our hearts almost burst with blessing and joy?

There is one truth that can never be abandoned:  God is as present in the hard set of circumstances as He is in the joyful ones.  Life is always lived IN His presence and WITH Him;  He will never leave or abandon us.  Our circumstances are a reflection of the dynamics of God’s now-dysfunctional created order . . . but it is still HIS created order.

Solomon put it this way:  “In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that man may not find out anything that will be after him. (Ecc. 7:14 ESV).  My paraphrase of that last phrase would be, “so that we learn to depend on Him.”

The Apostle Paul said something very similar:  “Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.  I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.  I can do all things through him who strengthens me (Phil 4:11-13 ESV).

This approach to life is possible only when we accept the truth of the nature of God’s grace.  He is always at work.  There is always something greater being accomplished.  The eternal is greater than the temporal.  

Wherever we may find ourselves today, there is reason to be thankful.  I’m feeling particularly blessed on the Monday morning because the external circumstances of my life are quite pleasant - for now.  That can change in a heartbeat.  God’s goodness and grace toward me will not - regardless of how I may feel.