Thankful for What?
The season of Thanksgiving comes regardless of what our personal circumstances are and there may by some folks who honestly wonder “What do I have to be thankful for?”
For some of our brothers and sisters in Christ, 2024 may have been a year of difficult trials or deflating loss. I could list examples of how this may be personally true for you to illustrate this statement – but the truth is, I, or no one else, may fully know the struggle that is your reality right now. In the old Jack Nicholson movie “As Good As It Gets” Nicholson’s character accuses his therapist of failing him by saying – “I’m drowning here and all you’re doing is describing the water!” I’m sure preachers can be guilty of that too.
So, I’d like to spend this moment we have together to say this to you: It’s ok to name the trials, sorrows and loss you are experiencing. Lament is biblical and necessary to process our life as it is. It is ok to feel what you are feeling – even if those feelings are anger or hurt or fear. Jesus was completely transparent with his disciples that “You will have suffering in this world…” (John 16:33).
But he was also clear that such suffering is not our destiny: “Take courage!” he said, “For I have overcome this world.” (John 16:33). As people of God and followers of Jesus – we are not called to pitch our tent and make our home in “the valley of the shadow of death” even if it feels like that is where our life has camped out right now.
When Jesus was crucified, there could not have been a more deflating reality for his disciples, his family, or friends to struggle through. As they woke up the day after Jesus’ death, this group had no way of knowing that in the very next moments:
Their faith would be confirmed
Their hope would be restored
Their loss would become victory
So what about us – the current generation of Jesus’ followers. As we reflect upon the wreckage that can be our life in this world: “What comes next?” Do you see only the continued suffering of hard times? Or do you see:
Our faith being confirmed
Our hope being restored
Our loss turning into victorious living.
This can be our reality as we look with eyes of faith to see where God is alive and kicking. Because even though we feel pain now and may even walk in the shadow of death - what always comes next is God’s promised future for us and our troubled world. I choose to trust this truth and that has made all the difference in my thanks giving.
Pastor Howard