God Speaking

“I will bless them and the places surrounding my hill. I will send down showers in season; there will be showers of blessing.”

(Ezekiel 34: 26)

This month, Thanksgiving is celebrated here in Canada and many of the newspapers have various articles as to what that exactly means to people. I was intrigued by many of the answers, but not surprised by others that included giving thanks for family/ friends etc. Later I was reading a devotional about the subject and came across a quote that really caught my attention;

You cannot be grateful and unhappy at the same time.

I suddenly caught myself remembering that I had been guilty of exactly that, admitting I was grateful for something, and in the next sentence saying words like this; but if only I had enough money for… or after receiving a longed for blessing, forget my angst about that problem, and start worrying about another immediately. The other intriguing question for many in this season is; who are we giving thanks to?  Sometimes we can slip into basically thanking ourselves for a positive outcome in our lives e.g. I am so thankful I had the sense to take that course of action.

The psalmists make it quite clear that the Lord deserves our constant thanksgiving;

“Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.” (Psalm 100:4)

We can also slip into excluding the wonderful power God has in our lives by neglecting to thank him when inexplicably good things happen, and we put it all down to coincidence.

For example, a friend was sharing how she had been in the hallway of her Senior Citizens building when she heard the fire alarm go off inside one of the rooms. She and another lady were able to go inside and see a pot burning on the stove and nobody there. They had time to turn off the stove and remove the pot before the whole room was engulfed. They could have just put that down to coincidence that they were outside the room just at the right time, but our friend loves the Lord and was able to give him thanks for saving the building.

Paul sets a wonderful example of giving thanks for his fellow Christians in prayers to God, and telling them in letters. How lovely for us to tell our friends that they are part of our thanksgiving when we pray.

“I thank my God every time I remember you in all my prayers for all of you.” (Philippians 1: 3)

When I was young we sang a sweet song encompassing all of this and its message is just as important today as it was when written.

Count your blessings name them one by one

And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.

The most important thanksgiving prayer for all of us, when we think of the Lord Jesus Christ, is summed up in this verse.

“Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift” (2 Corinthians 9: 15)