Since 1942, the United States have celebrated a holiday for Thanksgiving on the fourth Thursday of every November. For Christians the holiday is a time to remember the source of their blessings, regardless of how large or small those blessings seem. In Ecclesiastes 5:18-19, the Preacher recommends celebrating and enjoying our material things, and recognizing God as the Giver of them all, including the work needed to produce and prepare them:
“Behold, what I have seen to be good and fitting is to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of his life that God has given him, for this is his lot. Everyone also to whom God has given wealth and possessions and power to enjoy them, and to accept his lot and rejoice in his toil—this is the gift of God.”
However, as the Preacher wrote, even those with good jobs and plentiful possessions may find it difficult to truly enjoy them. It is “good and fitting”, but it is also “the gift of God” to find joy in the now instead of chasing things we don’t already have. It does not come naturally.
For many, time and events make each Thanksgiving different. The company around the table may have changed. The meal may be different. The means of providing the meal may be different. The familiarity of tradition may have been shaken by the pandemic and other circumstances. Much has changed, and much will change.
Therefore, focus on the Giver behind the gifts you have, and seek contentment with thankfulness that He has provided everything you need. For now, and in eternity. You are in good company.
Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, and other fruit of the Spirit can be hard to come by during political campaign season. Social media and traditional news outlets are usually geared toward sharing bad news in normal times, but during campaigns the mudslinging and negative attitudes go nuclear. Hyperbole is not supposed to be taken literally, like if I said, “I’m so hungry I could eat a horse,” but in politics it seems every election is the most important ever and the other candidate or party is going to destroy everyone. Responsible civic participation is a must in a healthy society but when it becomes apocalyptic, it may be a sign we’ve put government in a place only God should be.
Around 600 BC the Old Testament prophet Habakkuk was stressed out. Ancient Israel had the law of Moses and the temple in Jerusalem. They had God’s prophets, priests, and kings. Habakkuk’s circumstances should have been ideal. He saw his political, religious, and economic systems as the best possible, because they were from God Himself. However, it had all been corrupted by sinful man, often for the benefit of the powerful. Therefore, God told Habakkuk that He was about to do something utterly terrifying, unexpected, and unbelievable to His people:
“Look among the nations, and see; wonder and be astounded. For I am doing a work in your days that you would not believe if told.” – Habakkuk 1:5
God gave Habakkuk really, really bad news. Everything around him was going to crumble, because God was going to use the horribly wicked Babylonians to judge Israel and violently take them captive into exile. To us, this would be like God promising us that all of our worst political fears would be realized and that there was nothing we could do about it. Naturally, Habakkuk couldn’t believe it, so he asked God to teach him and waited for an answer:
“I will take my stand at my watchpost and station myself on the tower, and look out to see what he will say to me, and what I will answer concerning my complaint.” – Hab. 2:1
In God’s reply, He tells Habakkuk that “the righteous shall live by his faith.”[1] Not only will God ultimately judge the Babylonians, who were just tools in His hands, but His people must trust and be patient in the meantime, even exiled from the Promised Land without Israel’s institutions, which had proved useless anyway. Habakkuk felt much better, finding peace and even joy! He ends his book with this powerful prayer of faith and joy in Habakkuk 3:17-19:
“Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, Yet I will rejoice in the LORD; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. GOD, the Lord, is my strength; He makes my feet like the deer’s; He makes me tread on my high places. To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments.”
Habakkuk’s joy was real, although his situation was horrible. None of this is hyperbole, so why don’t more people have the unshakable joy of Habakkuk? For most of the world’s population, it isn’t because their circumstances are worse than his. So, what is it about politics and the fear of losing an election that robs us of joy and peace? Sometimes there’s no quick solution and a lot of long-term self-examination is required.
Sometimes we must also say:
“I will take my stand at my watchpost and station myself on the tower, and look out to see what he will say to me, and what I will answer concerning my complaint.”
So, over the next 4 Saturdays, I’ll be re-sharing some old posts related to reducing the political temperature. Maybe we can even find some joy in knowing our sovereign God is real, He is in control, and He knows what He’s doing, whatever our circumstances.
The prophet Jonah was angry after God’s grace came to the Gentile city of Nineveh, when they repented and avoided disaster: “But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry. And he prayed to the LORD and said, ‘O LORD, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster. Therefore now, O LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.’ And the LORD said, ‘Do you do well to be angry?’” – Jonah 4:1-4
Jonah claimed to know God’s character, but also wanted to determine who else could know God and who couldn’t, who gets “justice” and who doesn’t, preventing him from rejoicing in the salvation of Nineveh.
Do we do well to be angry, or do we prefer joy in knowing the God who is sovereign knows what He’s doing? Be glad in the salvation of God, even if He gives it to someone you don’t think deserves it. He knows better.
“Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever. Give thanks to the God of gods, for his steadfast love endures forever. Give thanks to the Lord of lords, for his steadfast love endures forever” – Psalm 136:1-3
Thanksgiving only makes sense if someone exists to thank, who is good, and has the power to provide what we are thankful for. Fortunately all of those things are true!
Thanksgiving also has more meaning when focused on what is lasting, trustworthy and satisfying:
“There is much in life that is not satisfying. We may be satisfied for a time. But the pleasures soon pale and satisfaction fades. When we are young and life lies before us, the offerings of the world are not bad, it seems. There is an appeal to fame or wealth or companionship. The hunger of the imagination paints our goals in bright colors. We live on dreams. But what happens when the future doesn’t bring what we ask for? What happens in the face of suffering, death, or sorrow? What happens in old age? If there is nothing more to life than the things that time takes from us, life becomes misery. On the other hand, if we are united to the living Lord Jesus Christ, who has gone before to prepare for us a place in his presence, then life retains its meaning and is filled with joy.” – November 24 entry from a James Montgomery Boice devotional “Come to the Waters” compiled by D. Marion Clark.
Driving Toward the Morning Sun 