Transform Thanksgiving into Everyday

Now that the turkey has been stuffed and the family stories regaled, it is time to transform Thanksgiving into everyday life. How do we infuse our everyday living to become a daily Thanksgiving feast?

Romans 12:13, “Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.”

This is the time of the year when we become introspective. Thanksgiving allows us to think of all the things we are thankful for. Christmas is the backdrop for showing love and appreciation for all who have touched our lives and those we do not know but feel compassion for their plight. New Year’s follows Christmas, a time of renewal. We commit to being a better version of ourselves. We are thankful, appreciative, and fortunate — not all of us.

This story is about the importance of dwelling on the richness of our lives. It should remind us of how important it is to share that richness with others.

Matthew 5:16, “In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”

An Incredible Day

Atlanta has a spring art festival in Piedmont Park. It is a spectacular event both for its content and its setting. The Dogwood Art Festival is in the spring when the city is in full bloom. There are Dogwoods, Azaleas, and Bradford Pears in full bloom. Although the Dogwood Festival runs the entire weekend, I go down early Friday. I like that time; I can talk with the artist as they set up their booths before the crowds arrive. These folks are incredibly skilled. They have an absolute passion for what they do. You can see and hear their joy as they take the time to discuss their art. This passion is also reflected in the quality of their work and the prices they charge. The Dogwood Art Festival is not a mom-and-pop affair.

This particular year the weather was incredible—Azure blue skies and cumulus clouds that remind you of cotton candy. The gorgeous white and pink dogwoods are in full bloom. The temperature was almost non-existent, feeling neither cold nor warm, absolutely picturesque. The vendors were excited to show their creations. It was a joy to be alive.

A Chance Encounter

After walking around, I settled comfortably on a picnic bench not far from the vendor row to watch people. I like watching people. It fills me with curiosity. I was also growing hungry and deciding what cardiac-inducing meal to eat. Apparently, healthy food was taboo in the by-laws of art festival management.

A woman sat down on the bench across that table from me. She was in late middle age, conservatively dressed, and unremarkable in many ways, the kind of person you might see in a crowd without ever really seeing her, that perfect blend of human camouflage. She said, “I could live a year on the price of one of these things.” Without looking, I agreed.

Proverbs 19:17, “Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will reward them for what they have done.”

God has this incredible way of introducing me to the exact person He wants me to engage with. One thing led to another, and we started talking. I bought her lunch. She was living in a halfway house after being released from prison. Life had been long and hard and disappointing. That once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that could have taken her life in a different direction was always just outside her reach. The hurdle in her life was guys. They came into her life at the wrong time with mischievous intent.

There was determination and grit in her outlook. She had a vision but no plan to get there. It wasn’t a grand vision. It was a vision to become normal. You know, 40-hour workweek, home, friends, and maybe family. Everyone has a unicorn; this was hers. If anything, I am a guy with a plan. Our meeting wasn’t serendipity or coincidence; it was part of God’s plan for her.

Stepping out in Faith

We started talking about God’s plan for her life. God’s plan was for her to prosper. But she had to be willing to surrender her plan for His. He would be faithful in His promise if she would. The first step was to find a church that had good scripture-based teaching. Then she needed to join an accountability group within that church that she could trust. We talked for about 90 minutes. She was cheerful, engaged, and asked questions.

Hebrews 13:16, “And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.”

The transformation I saw was that she sat more upright. Her face softened. Her eyes were brighter, more focused. She stated that she knew her plan didn’t work. She had heard the message of Christ in prison and she felt she needed to look into it further. But she always put it off. She knew of a church that had members she knew. They came by the halfway house. She liked them; they weren’t pushy.

Others plowed the field and planted the seeds in her life; I was fertilizer (be nice; it’s a metaphor). The harvest will come.

1 Corinthians 9:10 “Surely he says this for us, doesn’t he? Yes, this was written for us because whoever plows and threshes should be able to do so in the hope of sharing in the harvest.”

Did she find her unicorn? I don’t know. I do know that God wants me to be obedient for the sake of others and share the bounty of His love for me with them.

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.”

Feeling Thankful

thankful

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.”

Thanksliving

At Thanksgiving, we give thanks for all that God has done in our lives. We thank Him for our family and our friends and our everyday living. We give thanks for all the worldly things he has bestowed upon us. Then we turn our thoughts to Christmas.

1 Corinthians 1:30, “Everything that we have – right thinking and right living, a clean slate, and a fresh start – comes from God by way of Jesus Christ.”

Thanksgiving is an special day because even the secular world stops for a moment to give thanks for their blessings. If even the non-believer is thankful for their gifts, so how much more should we be grateful? Can you think of a single good thing in your life that was not provided by God?

Giving Thanks

For a moment, just a single moment, bask in pure adoration for the miracle of your life. Lift a prayer before you eat that reaches down from the pit of your soul and truly gives thanks that God created you, wrote your life story, and provided for you throughout your journey. Unfortunately, it is after that point that we then turn back to living our lives. Most of us will overeat, enjoy the companionship of family and friends, and then it’s back to the daily grind. Wouldn’t our lives be better served if we lived in that moment? How do we stretch that moment into the lifelong glorification of a life well lived?

God made us perfectly crafted for our journey ahead. Although we see deficiencies, wrong turns, and rabbit trails, God sees the essence of our perfection. Perfection that will not be achieved this side of Heaven, but is real all the same. We tend to silo our blessings as individual answered prayers rather than view them as a continuum of our story. God does not work on a checklist or a to-do list that is characterized by point-specific blessings. He is always blessing us if we ask Him.

James 1:17, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.

In Dire Circumstances

But what if my circumstances are dire? What if I have strife and conflict and pain that drives what feels like a life unfulfilled and purposeless?  If you are on this side of the dirt, God is not done with you. As long as you have breath in you, God has a mission for you. From personal experience, I can say that the only thing that got me to tomorrow was knowing God had something for me to do today, even in my most dark days. I didn’t always know what it was or why, but I did know it was greater than my pain. I would not go to meet Him unfinished.

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

The way to rise above your struggles is to distract yourself by immersing yourself in God’s overwhelming love. Remember that God is most gracious to those who are struggling and call on Him. Every moment of every day is a blessing for which we should give thanks.

Isaiah 66:1-2, “This is what the Lord says: “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. Where is the house you will build for me?  Where will my resting place be? Has not my hand made all these things, and so they came into being?” declares the Lord.

“These are the ones I look on with favor: those who are humble and contrite in spirit, and who tremble at my word.”

Living With Kingdom Purpose

We live in a broken world. It will serve up bitter fruit at times. Some people seem to get a larger portion than others. I don’t get it. I don’t get it in my own life, and I certainly can’t advise you. I do know this when I take my eyes off of the prize, the struggle intensifies. Living a purposeless life magnifies the difficulties. Knowing that there is a kingdom purpose in all things gives me the strength to move forward. Moment by moment, thanking God that I still stand and that God is not done with me yet, gives me purpose. And with that purpose, I have hope. Commit yourselves to not meet God face-to-face unfinished.

In Revelations, we read what should be our final words.

Revelations 7:12, “ Blessing and glory and wisdom and Thanksgiving and honor and power and strength belong to God forever and ever amen.