November 22, 2010

Weekly Verse

Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus!

I Thessalonians 5:18

Daily Devotional

"The Thankful List" by Joyce Landorf

It's Thanksgiving time again. I know it because everyone is talking about it. If I were to write a list of all the things I am thankful for, I'd put down all the good things of life. But as i look over my list, I wonder about the difficult things of the year. Should they be on the list too? Our Lord clearly reveals in His Word that we are to be thankful and grateful for all things.

My list does not include some suffering I had this year, yet in order for my patience to grow ( the epistle of James tells us), I need problems, pain, and suffering. My list includes none of this past months' disappointment, yet it was exactly when my disappointment was greatest that Jesus was especially close and comforting to me. 

It is not easy to make out a pain and disappointment list, yet the Old Testament Prophet Habakkuk did such a thing. He said:

                       "Even though the fig trees have no blossoms
                       and there are no grapes on the vines
                       even though the olive crop fails,
                       and the fields lie empty and barren;
                       even though the flocks die in the fields,
                       and the cattle barns are empty,
                       I will still rejoice in the Lord!
                       I will be joyful in the God of my salvation"
                      (Habakkuk 3:17-18)

The secret is in the fact that he did not make up his list of praise and thanksgiving by how he felt emotionally. He made it a matter of will. He, like the psalmist, says,  " I will praise." That's thanksgiving! So this year I am making a new list.

Dear Lord, 

I thank you for everything you have done in my life. I thank you for the good, and I thank you for the things that I cannot always perceive as good. Please continue to use all things in my life for Your glory.

Amen