Does Thanksgiving leave you feeling thankful for all that has transpired in your life or just blessed for the good that has happened? Do you thank God for what didn’t happen as much as what has happened? Much of our blessings come from the things that God has spared us from.
I think back to when I was considering changing jobs because I got a great offer from a company offering more money and benefits, along with a great job title. My ego wanted to take the offer. But a voice inside my head told me to stay where I was for the time being. It was an irrational decision to turn the offer down, but I trusted the voice in my head. Six months later, the company that made me the offer went bankrupt.
Agur
Proverbs 30:7-9, “Two things I ask of you, Lord; do not refuse me before I die: Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’ Or I may become poor and steal and so dishonor the name of my God.”
Agur reminds us that sometimes we are better off with little. Not getting too much can be the help we need to avoid temptation. Prosperity has its pitfalls. But do we think about that when it comes time to give thanks? Do we take the time to thank our creator for the things He did not give us?
Thessalonians 5:18, “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
This Thanksgiving, thank God for the great blessings you have experienced in your life. Let Him know how much you appreciate all the good times. But also take the time to consider the times when you didn’t get what you wanted. Think through those disappointing moments. Where did it take you? What good ultimately came out of not getting what you expected? Maybe it was a lost love that turned out to be toxic. Maybe a job you didn’t get led you to a different company and a chance to meet your new best friend. God can use even something as traumatic as a divorce to create a new chapter in your life.
Rick Warren
“In happy moments, praise God, in difficult moments, seek God, in quiet moments, worship God. In painful moments, trust God. Every moment, thank God.” – Rick Warren
In every moment, thank God. Rick Warren does a great job of summarizing Thanksgiving, feeling thankful for everything that comes our way because all things work for the good of those who love God.
Romans 8:28, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
James 2:14-17, “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.”
THE PRICE OF PRAYER
I have prayed for someone for over 40 years and still don’t know where God is taking her. I know her story, and it’s a bad one. She has endured almost every type of dysfunction imaginable, yet she still stands. When I met her, I wanted to be that guy; you know the type, part star quarterback and part cheerleader. He knows when to step in to help and when to stand back to cheer. I never got there for her.
I get into these dilemmas where I want to be the Savior of humankind. I want to be “that guy.” The combination of Superman and Mother Teressa. I want to be strong when strength is required and quiet and understanding when strength isn’t needed. I want to be the rock, the light on the hill, and the warm embrace. My therapist says I have a white knight syndrome, what does she know? As for me, I don’t know if “that guy” is a stereotype or a figment.
Romans 15:1, “We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves.”
This got me thinking about a lady I met in the park a few years ago. It was early spring, and the Dogwoods trees were starting to bloom. Every spring, Atlanta has the Dogwood festival. It is an event that brings some of the most incredible artisans in the country to Piedmont Park. I go down early Friday to talk with them as they build their booths. This year was no different, or I thought it wouldn’t be.
Romans 12:13, “Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.”
THE PRICE OF ART
As I sat on a picnic bench deciding what to eat for lunch, a lady sat across for me. She casually said that the price of just one piece of art would feed her for a year. I laughed and said I agreed. Then she mentioned that she had just gotten out of prison. God has done this to me enough that I have started to pick up on the tale tail signs of His hand in action. I had to ask the dreaded question, “Tell me about it.” God had a plan, and I was in the midst of it.
Galatians 6:2, “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way, you will fulfill the law of Christ.”
She told a story about a girl who somehow grew up to be a tired middle-aged woman. This girl always picked the wrong man. Her heart leads her brain to the same place every time; women’s prison. You see, these guys are always into something, something the law doesn’t appreciate. She loves them anyway. Eventually, both of them part ways in shackles and jumpsuits. She gets out and starts the process all over again. One day she looks in the mirror, and the girl has turned into a middle-aged woman going nowhere.
That woman is now sitting next to me. She knows she can’t repeat what she has done in the past, but she doesn’t see an alternative future. You know that guy I told you about a few paragraphs ago? Well, he’s an idiot. He can’t let a thing go; compassion for baby kittens and stray dogs overwhelms him. So, that guy buys her lunch, and we start to talk.
Proverbs 19:17, “Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and He will reward them for what they have done.”
THE PRICE OF SIN
As we talk, I want to cry for this woman. God has made her an incredible creature with almost limitless potential, but it has been highjacked. She gravitates to the wrong people. She is the right raw material, just in the hands of the wrong sculpturer. Lucky for us, this is God’s plan, not ours. Trust me; you don’t want to take advice from me. But God, that’s another story.
Matthew 25:44-45, “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for Me.’”
I asked her if she ever thought of going to church? My thought was that she might meet a better class of men. Better yet, she would find a better class of female companionship that would help her steer clear of a particular class of men. Sorry, this is all God gave me to go on. It was enough. She mentioned that group of women from the neighborhood church stop by the halfway house each week. That was her new plan to create an alternate future. She would go to church with them. God planted the seed that could grow into a better life.
THE RETURN ON THAT INVESTMENT
It was now late afternoon, and I had to return home. I didn’t get to talk to many artisans, but I watched God work. My friend from the first paragraph will always be in my heart. I always think I could have done more or been more, but that wasn’t God’s plan for us. God does remind me through these interactions that He is at work answering prayer. He has not forgotten her or me. He has planted the seed.
Hebrews 6:10 “God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown Him as you have helped His people and continue to help them.”
That is enough for now. It is enough to know that God never gives up and never quits. God will use a stranger to plant a seed of hope that will grow into a beautiful garden. It might not be part of His plan for us to see that particular garden, so He lets us walk through gardens that others have prepared beforehand.
Stay faithful in prayer and obedient to His call.
Luke 6:38, “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”
I leave for Kyrgyzstan today. This is one of the great joys of my life. These are incredible people.
In August of 2021, I wrote the post My Last day in Tokmok. This was a lament. I had worked with three amazing women that had uncertain futures. My last sentence was this, “My selfish prayer is that God’s plan for them will be revealed in a way that brings us both joy.”
God answers prayer in stunning, beautiful, and astonishing ways. One of the women has found the love of her life and gotten married. I get to meet her new husband. Lest you worry, they crossed all the T’s and dotted the I’s. They pursued and received the church’s blessing and, more importantly, her uncle’s blessing. Her uncle is a man of strong faith who takes his guardianship of her seriously.
I head to 22 hours in an airplane looking forward to the journey.
