Thankfulness in a World of Adversity
Thanksgiving week! My favorite holiday of the year. I love Thanksgiving because it’s only about food and family and friends. There are no parties or gifts or costumes, which can all be fun but create expectations and pull the focus from the people sometimes. Thanksgiving is just rooted in the simplicity of eating together.
Giving thanks has received a lot of publicity in the last few years as researchers have discovered that it actually contributes to mental and emotional health. Gratitude journals, gratitude posts, gratitude groups on social media abound. Twitter had 1260 gratitude posts this past hour. Research has shown that practicing gratitude can actually rewire your brain.
But sometimes it seems like the bad and the dark simply overwhelm the good and we struggle to feel gratitude. Sarah Young addresses this in Jesus Calling: “To protect your thankfulness, you must remember that you reside in a fallen world, where blessings and sorrows intermingle freely. A constant focus on adversity defeats many Christians. They walk through a day that is brimming with beauty and brightness, seeing only the grayness of their thoughts. Neglecting the practice of giving thanks has darkened their minds.” So thankfulness is not a foolish naïveté that ignores the realities of the world. It’s a determination to focus on the good things God has gifted us and a refusal to let Satan dictate our interpretation of the world.
Several scriptures mention a sacrifice of praise or a sacrifice of thanksgiving: “I will sacrifice a thank offering to God.” Psalm 116: 17. I was mystified by this idea for a while until I realized God has commanded us to give thanks for everything. There are some things that are so hard to be thankful for, and giving God thanks for them is a sacrifice. But God knows how much we benefit from the gratitude so He requires this of us.
This Thanksgiving week, let us offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving and choose gratitude even when we can clearly see the adversity intermingled.
