Being Thankful In Hard Times?

It’s Thanksgiving. You might ask, “What’s there to be thankful for when life is crashing down around us?” We’re in the middle of a pandemic that has killed 100’s of thousands of people in our country alone. Thousands upon thousands have been sick. We’re wearing masks, our normal way of life has been taken away from everyone — people are losing their jobs, businesses are going under -  people are scared they could get the virus and die, many have died — many have lost loved ones to the pandemic. There’s confusion, uncertainty, stress, anxiety, and fear. 

In the past, Thanksgiving was the joyous holiday of a day off of work, parades, football, family gatherings, and turkey dinners. Not this year. How can we have a traditional Thanksgiving this year? Because of the virus, family gatherings are limited, attending football games is restricted, the Macy’s traditional street parade is cancelled and turned into a television stay-at-home event. 

Can we really celebrate Thanksgiving in the middle of a crisis? Maybe Thanksgiving is actually coming at the perfect time!! A time to refocus — to think about what’s really important. 

The pilgrims knew what was really important. They had a thanksgiving feast with the purpose of thanking God for the harvest. The dictionary definition of THANKSGIVING, according to Merriam-Webster, is this…….a public acknowledgment or celebration of divine goodness, the act of giving thanks, a prayer expressing gratitude. YOU SEE, Thanksgiving is supposed to be spiritually focused — our Thanksgiving should be a day of thanking God.

So the question is — how can we be thankful (express thanksgiving) in hard times? — in midst of crisis? Hardship? Even in times of tragedy? How can we be thankful when we’re going through bad times? What should we thank God for????

Well, we can be thankful for the ONE THING that’s really important in any and every situation of life…..we can be thankful for His LOVE. LOVE is what sustains us, what motivates us, what matters the most — regardless of our circumstance. This Thanksgiving, I say let’s focus our thanksgiving on LOVE. Especially for His love for us. Whether we’re going through good times or bad, we can still be thankful for LOVE — the love of God for us, the love of Family, the love of Friends. Isn’t that’s what really is important?

God is the designer, originator, and ultimate example and demonstrator of LOVE. He loved us before we even knew it. He made the first move sending His Son to die for our sins, while we were still sinners!

But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. (Romans 5:8)

This unconditional, underserving love by God for us sinners is called can be looked upon as Grace. Grace is God’s good favor on those who have no reason to receive it. Thank God that we live in the covenant of Grace. Thank God for His Love. Love is what motivated GOD to send His Son. It’s the WHY — what made Him do it.

“For God so LOVED the world that He gave His only Son, the whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

God demonstrated His love for us by sending Jesus into the world to save us. God’s love is unconditional and underserved.

God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. (1 John 4:9)

God’s love is so powerful and faithful, that nothing can ever separate us from it!

And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39)

“What’s there to be thankful for when life is crashing down around us?” God’s Love for us. The Good News is that we are in a perfect, loving Father-Child relationship with God. We are made right with God because, as baptized believers, we know that Jesus willingly died on the cross as a sacrifice for our sins. Therefore, we are adopted as children of God, with the promise of eternal life with Him. It’s all because of His LOVE for us. And when we understand His love, we love Him back.

We love because he first loved us. (1 John 4:19)

Yes, this Thanksgiving, let’s be thankful for what’s really important….Love — the love of God, the love of family, and the love of friends. There’s nothing like being the recipient of love — knowing that someone loves you. One thing for certain -   God loves you. And that’s something to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. 

LOVE……….

It’s the strongest force on earth/goes beyond the universe/it's heaven's eternal theme/it's God's main quality.

It can melt the hardened heart/it can tear you all apart/it's the most important thing/it's the greatest offering.

It transcends all time and space/every culture every race/regardless of the miles/it's still there all the while. 

It's what motivated God/to send His only Son/unconditionally given/so believers can be forgiven.

It's the reason we want to obey/to please God in every way /it's the greatest of all commands/love God then your fellow man     

And nothing can separate us/from the love of Christ within us/nothing can take love away/forever it will remain

Love Love Love

Those were the lyrics to a song I wrote as I was contemplating what love is. I put it into a song called, “The Strongest Force On Earth”. There’s nothing stronger than love. Love can motivate people to do anything. Love is powerful. A parent would die in place of their child if put in a threatening situation. In a sense, Jesus did just that — He gave His life to save us.

Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. (John 15:13)

Here’s an idea for a way to offer thanksgiving to God. When you wake up, sit up on the edge of your bed. And start the day saying a prayer of thanksgiving to God for His Love. Don’t ask FOR anything from Him in your prayer. Just say a prayer of thanksgiving TO HIM. Something like this....

“Thank you Father for your love for me. Your unconditional, underserved love that has been shown through Christ who died for me. Thank you for always loving me no matter what — for being the perfect, loving, caring Father who is always for me and always with me. Thank you for LOVE ITSELF - the love of Family, the love of Friends. And most of all, thank you for loving me.”

You say that prayer and I think your day will turn out just fine.

May you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. (Ephesians 3:18)

5 Ways To Keep A Positive Point Of View

The Christian author C. S. Lewis has said that one of the things that separates man from any other creature is the ability to imagine the future. All other creatures from the largest whale to the smallest single-cell amoeba, only live in the moment, driven by God-given instinct. In other words, a bear knows when to hibernate, a bird knows when to migrate, and an owl knows when to hunt. But only a human can plan, reason, and make decisions about the future. You cannot foresee what will actually happen in the future, only God can do that. But you can imagine what will or could happen. 

Since humans have the ability to imagine the future, they can have basically just three different views about the future: a positive view, a negative view, and a neutral view. One with a neutral view would be one who is indifferent about their future, and don't really care. The negative view would be the idea that the future is dim, and filled with failure and disappointment. However, the positive view looks to the future with expectation that good things will happen in the future. This positive view is called HOPE.

So, what is HOPE? A non-believer's definition of hope is much different than Christian's definition of hope. A non-believer will see hope as a positive outcome of some future situation, either by chance, by effort, or by personal skill. For example, winning a card game, or buying a newer car, or getting a better test score would be their hope. 

A Christian's definition of hope differs greatly from a non-believer's definition in the fact that it involves faith in God. So, for a Christian, hope can be defined as a confident expectation that some future situation or condition will turn out favorably based on FAITH in God's providence, promises, and intervention. 

For a Christian, we trust that God is actively involved in our future days. And because of this faith in God, we have CONFIDENT HOPE.

"I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called—his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance."  (Ephesians 1:18)

Since a Christian's confident hope is founded in FAITH in Jesus, and if we are in Christ and He is in us, our hope can never be taken away. 

It's hope that gives us a positive point of view. Here are 5 ways keep our hope strong -- to keep a positive point of view. 

1— Realize that our current circumstance will pass. 

One of my mother’s favorite sayings was, “This too shall pass.” This saying represents a positive perspective. It doesn't mean we deny reality; it just means we acknowledge that, even in the toughest circumstances, we have a way through them -- a light at the end of the tunnel. 

2— Realize that God is with us through this. 

God will never abandon us. No matter what we go through, the good, the bad, He is with us always.

3 — Realize that God is constantly working for us.

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." (Romans 8:28)

God, as a perfect, loving Father, wants the best for us, His children, and He always works in our favor. 

4 — Realize that God can do the impossible

Jesus replied, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.” (Luke 18:27)

5 — Realize God hears our prayers

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. (Philippians 4:6)

So — to summarize

1 — Realize that our current circumstance will pass.

2 — Realize that God is with us through this.

3 — Realize that God is constantly working for us 

4 — Realize that God can do the impossible

5 — Realize God hears our prayers

The bottom line is this…..

as Christians, we have HOPE — CONFIDENT HOPE. And it’s all because of FAITH.

And this hope goes beyond this world - the promise of heaven - eternal life.

ONE MORE THING —REMEMBER…………….

CONFIDENT HOPE results in PEACE. -  and who doesn’t want that??????

"I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called—his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance."  (Ephesians 1:18)