Thanksgiving Days

Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met. Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.—Matthew 6:33-34

There are certainly more profound reasons why Jesus looked Up and gave thanks as He prepared to take the ridiculously few fishes and loaves to feed thousands. One is so simple, so powerful, so timeless, that it went right by His disciples. And so it has been for all the years that have passed since that hillside miracle until right now. They were, and we tend to be, so preoccupied with the hows, what-ifs, and yes-buts of life, especially for being ready for the challenges and needs of what lies ahead—or, desperately wanting a do-over for decisions and conversations of the recent or distant past—that it can be hard to focus on what God is doing and wants to do in the moment right in front of us.

Jesus also has a lot to say about being prepared and ready, and of confession and forgiveness. But almost without exception, along with the simple thanks for fishes and loaves, all of it is couched in one foundational word: Today. This day in November, like all the others that have come before it, is a day the Lord has made for you to live in the moment; to look Up and be grateful for inhaling and exhaling, for beauty, majesty and faithfulness displayed in His creation, for loved ones and loyal friends, for even the seemingly few things that you have on hand for an overwhelming need—be it food, money, energy and determination, or even limited evident solutions to large problems at work or in life…..

Lord, this is all I’ve got:

Just a couple of loaves of bread and a fish or two.

You know what that’s all about.

Doesn’t seem like much at all for what needs to be done, and I don’t know how this is going to work.

But You have provided, not me.

Thank You that You always do.

Better than that, You know me, my needs and desires far better than I think I do.

But I do know this much: You are good, and You have proven over and over again that You love me

With a how-much-more kind of love that is beyond my comprehension. 

And that You won’t leave me floundering when I ask for help,

Or ever reply with “yeah, well, good luck with that.”

Ever.

So along with all the usual things to be thankful for this season (ones that I too often take for granted),

Let my first song of this and every morning be: “Today is the day You have made,” 

And rejoice in these very 24 hours You've given me

Rather than stare at tomorrow’s hopes and fears, or yesterday’s regrets.

And today, not if but when I hear Your voice, don’t let my heart be hardened by complaining

Or even a hint of unbelief,

But instead, help me (because it ain't always easy) to put on a gratitude attitude wardrobe.

For as long as it is today

So that I can think less about myself for just one second to encourage someone else

To hold on to the Hope we profess—the only hope worth clinging to.

Most of all, to remember that lifting Up fishes and loaves point to the key;

The one that unlocks a meaningful, satisfying life, and a lifestyle of thanksgiving:

"...first and most importantly, seek, aim at, strive after His kingdom and His righteousness—

The attitude and character of God—

And all these things will be given to you also."

So be it, Lord, even today.

"Thanksgiving is worry's kryptonite." — Matt Chandler

No Photo ID Necessary

"Lift up your eyes on high and see who has created these heavenly bodies,
The One who brings out their host by number,
He calls them all by name;
Because of the greatness of His might and the strength of His power,
Not one is missing."
—Isaiah 40:26

There are tens of thousands of reasons why we may be speechless and full of wonder when standing under a night sky.

One of them, for times like these when the world is being shaken to the core, is knowing that no matter what it feels like, the universe is still firmly in God's control—because even of the stars in the galaxy, “not one is missing.”

And in times like these, when even the strongest saints experience a tinge of uncertainty or vulnerability, perhaps the most wonderful and mind-blowing of them all is to remember that God also did not create any star, any galaxy, any thing—or any person—and call it "Anonymous" or "Hey you."

There may be moments and days when we wonder otherwise, but as Isaiah emphasizes nine chapters  later, the good and compassionate God who created the universe and all that is in it never needs a GPS or photo ID to find us, to come near when we call...even when, in times like these, it's often just groans and sighs without words.

“See, I have engraved you on the palms of My hand. It does not say your name — the name is there, but that is not all! See the fullness of this: I have graven your person, your image, your circumstances, your temptations, your weaknesses, your wants, your works. Everything about you, all that concerns you, I have put you altogether there. Wilt thou ever say again that thy God has forsaken thee?” — Charles Spurgeon

ADAPTED FROM: 11-17-13

I Know Who Goes Before Me...

“Lean on, trust in, and be confident in the Lord with all your heart and mind, and do not rely on your own insight or understanding. In all your ways know, recognize, and acknowledge Him, and He will direct and make straight and plain your paths.”—Proverbs 3:5-6, Amplified           

What’s the first thing that often comes to mind when you step out on a big decision after you think you are getting the Lord’s leading on something, and it turns out that it wasn’t what you thought? “Wow, dude, missed it again!” Maybe. But perhaps more likely, we just think we missed it when, in fact, God has a way of using our shaky steps of trust to help us see something more important than that big decision.

This is a big deal. Hardly a week goes by when we aren’t faced with some huge or relatively small decision that feels like we’re jumping without a safety net. There has been no “God told me so” voice from heaven, only a persistent, feels-like-God-might-be-behind-this sense deep within. So, you test it some more, pray about it a lot, perhaps seek Godly counsel about it all. And, on occasion, try to talk yourself out of it. Finally, if there are no obvious red flags, there comes no other option—you choose to trust God, launch out, leap, and see what happens…

…and even though the enemy of your soul may have been chuckling from the sidelines, the landing is safe, even without a net. God-focused trust, even scared-to-death trust, always has the last laugh. Sometimes, though, the details of what lies ahead after the leap don’t wind up being anywhere what you expected. Not a bad thing, just a wonderfully strange journey. “God, what was that all about?!” And sooner or later, we realize that we had not “missed it” at all, because beyond what we thought was simply making a decision, we learned something else very important—perhaps more important—by taking that leap. Something we’d been blind to that probably wouldn’t have been seen any other way.

But why? Not to mess with our heads, or because God likes to play shell games with all of life’s decisions. But because His Love poured out is always good, and has one goal in every situation of life: to transform and conform us to be like Jesus in all of our spheres of influence, our actions, our attitudes, our serving, our speech. In the words of Charles Spurgeon: "We cannot always trace God's hand, but we can always trust God's heart."

For all the leaps of faith big and small yet to come, it is good to know that:

“… God is able to orchestrate everything to work toward something good and beautiful when we love Him and accept His invitation to live according to His plan. From the distant past, His eternal love reached into the future. You see, He knew those who would be His one day, and He chose them beforehand to be conformed to the image of His Son so that Jesus would be the firstborn of a new family of believers—all brothers and sisters. … He called them to a different destiny so that they would experience what it means to be made right with God and share in His glory. So, what should we say about all of this? If God is on our side, then tell me: whom should we fear? — Romans 8:28-31

“I know Who goes before me, I know Who stands behind: the God of angel armies is always by my side. The One who reigns forever, He is a friend of mine..."— E. Cash, S. Cash, C. Tomlin