One of my mother’s Thanksgiving meal traditions was to place before each table guest several kernels of corn. Prior to the meal we would pass around a small bowl. And as the bowl came to each of us we would drop a kernel in the bowl and share one thing we were thankful for over the last year.
Inevitably, one or more of us had had a difficult year. Or perhaps a loved one had been parted from us. So the giving of thanks was sometimes mingled with tears. But we learned to recognize God’s goodness and favor in spite of hardship or loss. And we learned the discipline of giving thanks when all was not as we wished it had been.
Some of you have walked through deep waters this past year. In fact, the waters may not yet have receded. Navigating this Thanksgiving may be quite difficult.
In the Scriptures we read about the “sacrifice of thanksgiving” (e.g., Ps 50:14, 23) or the “sacrifice of praise” (Heb 13:15). Does the word “sacrifice” imply that sometimes the giving of thanks is hard to do? that a substantial cost has been incurred in the giving of thanks? I think so. And I think this is why thanksgiving, especially in the midst of unknowns, hardships, or tears, glorifies God. Because it tells Him we trust Him enough to thank Him even when we can’t see which end is up, or how all this could possibly work out for His glory and our good (Rom 8:28).
In times of bewilderment and questioning, I find the most help by fixing my attention on Scriptures that speak to the character of God. He is good (Ps 145:9). He is merciful (Ex 34:6). He is kind (Titus 3:4-7). He is loving (1 Jn 4:9-11). He is in control (Is 14:24). And so on. At a bare minimum, I can give Him thanks for who He is. And usually when I start there, He enlarges my field of view to see even more reasons to give thanks.
This Thanksgiving, may the Lord enable you to “be thankful to Him, and bless His name. For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting” (Ps 100:4-5). And, says the Lord, “the one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies Me” (Ps. 50:23).