The year 2020 has added a new dynamic to Thanksgiving Day. Some will not be able to gather with family and celebrate the occasion in the usual manner.  Moreover, COVID, politics, and social unrest have presented difficult challenges for most of us.

While some give thanks for health and healing, still others will deal with the anxiety of an unresolved or incurable diagnosis. Some will give thanks for material possessions while others will spend the day wondering how they will avoid losing what little they have. Yes, Thanksgiving Day can be a challenge.

Thanksgiving “In”

In Monday’s blog, I challenged you to be thankful TO while being thankful for. Today, I want to encourage you to be thankful IN in addition to being thankful for. What a difference a preposition can make. Consider the words of Paul:

Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
– 1 Thessalonians 5:18

Let me offer a few “whys.”

1. We can be thankful even in difficult circumstances because God has a plan and He is in control. Nothing happens to us that He has not permitted and plans to use for His glory and our good. (Romans 8:28)

2. We can be thankful even in difficult circumstances because in them we have the opportunity to let others see Jesus living in us. How we respond to adversity says a lot about what is in out heart. Keep your focus on Jesus and let Him live through you. (Philippians 2:12-14)

3. We can be thankful even in bad circumstances because God will us them FOR us to make us better and more like Jesus. Circumstances are like sandpaper and grit that buff out our rough edges and make us smoother. The finest pearls are fashioned in the grittiest oysters. (1 Peter 1:6-7)

This year, take time to give God thanks for your circumstances no matter how rosy or rough they may be. God is at work in your life. He is for you, nothing can be against you, and you will come through shining like gold.

This Sunday, November 29th, we would love for you to join us for worship at Bellevue Baptist Church, 5925 Price Road, Macon, GA.  We will  begin our Advent Seasonal Celebration as we focus on the HOPE Jesus brings to the World.  We would love to see YOU at The VUE.  The service starts at 11:00am.