Thanksgiving 2021
I’ve learned by now to be quite content whatever my circumstances. I’m just as happy with little as with much, with much as with little. I’ve found the recipe for being happy whether full or hungry, hands full or hands empty. Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am. Philippians 4:11, The Message Bible
As my family and I are preparing for the Thanksgiving holiday, I begin to think about the things that have happened over the past two years. There have been pleasant things and well, not so pleasant things that have come my way. I am sure I am not the only one who has suffered either disappointment or loss. Maybe you have suffered the loss of a spouse, a child, a parent, or a friend. Perhaps your loss is not so personal, but maybe it was the loss of a job, or you were displaced from your home.
I’m just as happy with little as with much, with much as with little.
In these times, we may find it difficult to focus on the things for which we should be thankful. It is easier to complain than to give thanks. I am reminded of the Apostle Paul, who declares that whatever state he finds himself in he has learned to be content. Being content does not equal being complacent. The contentment of which Paul speaks was anchored in his knowing the God he served would support him. He had an assurance that the Lord Jesus Christ would help him get through any situation or circumstance.
He will most assuredly help all of us to, therefore, I have purposed in my heart to be grateful every day. The gratitude that I express is not rooted in things always going my way, but it is rooted in knowing that the God I serve will carry me through all that I face good or bad. When I am hurting due to loss or disappointment, he is aware of it, and he is present. The things that I have loss he will surely replace. If things go my way or if they do not, like Paul I have learned to be content knowing that my faith is in the one that keeps me from falling. His power and strength are greater than my own and upon him I can rely. It is in the Lord our God that I trust. I am thankful for all things and have learned to be content.