Do You Embrace Uncertainty With Thanksgiving?
Good Morning Friends,
Happy Thanksgiving! Today is also my birthday and the second present I received was a surprise from Google…a personalized doodle wishing me a Happy Birthday on my computer. The first gift was my joy in the experience that never stops giving…in the superabundant provision of God that overflows in nature and in our lives when we awake to a new day. More surprises are sure to come. So today friends I am celebrating that God has become the spiritual and physical center piece of my life. I am celebrating because upon that improbability I can build memories of thanksgiving that truly acknowledge the Giver of all good gifts in spite of my doubts. I have learned to accept God’s plan, to live through the tension and in the tension of life understand the meaning of history is the Kingdom of God. Do You Embrace Uncertainty With Thanksgiving?
Scripture: Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!
Psalm 95:2 (NRSV)
Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
Philippians 4:6 (NRSV)
‘Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? Therefore do not worry, saying, “What will we eat?” or “What will we drink?” or “What will we wear?” For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. ‘So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.
Matthew 6:25-34 (NRSV)
Message: In today’s scripture we learn that being thankful helps balance out the anxiety in our life…the anxiety of being in the tension of the church, in the tension of the march of history in and toward the Kingdom of God.
The beauty of giving thanks to God in this reality is that He totally deserves it. He is the Good Master…the Good Teacher. But He does not want us to call Him Good, He wants us to believe He is good and blesses us not just in a general way, in the nature of things, but in a very specific way, by forgiving our sins. Because this provision is so intimate a fellowship we must not consider praise of God, the provider, a luxury. We must consider it essential…fundamental to life. For the abundance of God’s power is to bring awe as well as excite our hearts in praise. So when all the analysis is over, of the things of this world, and we discover that something is mysteriously missing, we need to translate the truth of today’s scripture into a little human cooperation with Him. We must stop being theists in our heads and secularists in our actions. Remember He is still involved in revealing Himself to us, so learn how to work with God. Discover that freedom is found in access to God’s presence and that this experience is also a place of reverence and fear as well as love and praise. So today give a little by acknowledging the giver of all things and you might well experience the surprises of God.
Pray that we rejoice in the day the Lord has made. Pray that we are confident on His favor and grace to make the difference in our lives. Pray that God fulfills our every longing by overcoming the power of sin in our lives. Pray that we keep our walk fresh. Pray that our faith be strengthened by our experience of God’s power. Pray that each dawn be a blessing. Pray that each one of our sunsets be a shout for joy. Pray that we be thankful and turn to worship, not worry. Pray that we would know that God is with us and for us. Pray that in the uncertainty of the future and perhaps because it is uncertain we can show our faith and in that faith be thankful.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 