Another Thanksgiving Day is upon us. I love it that every time we say the name
of 
this holiday it reminds us of what it's all about: giving thanks.
Maybe some of us don't feel much like giving thanks right now. Maybe we're slogging through a rough patch that shows no sign of smoothing out. Every day starts and ends with one thought, one prayer: Please let this be over–soon!
Even if things are good in our lives, probably most of us can remember a time when we floundered and fretted. When that's where we are and life feels empty, how are we supposed to feel thankful?
All I can do is tell you what helps me when I find myself walking that long, lonesome road.
That's when I hang on to what I know by faith and by experience: God is still God and His Word is still true. Even if I feel abandoned, the Bible over and over says He loves me. What's more, He doesn't love me because of my shining faith and my perfect life, only because I believe in Jesus.
[Jesus said] "No, the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God." –John 21:27 -Then I search out Bible verses that reassure me. Sometimes I write them down and keep them with me so I can repeat them over and over to myself. Like this one:
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger of sword? . . . No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. –Romans 8:35, 37-39
When I feel weak and overwhelmed this verse reminds me I can draw on power beyond my own:
[The Apostle Paul says] Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." –2 Corinthians 12:9
When we're feeling down it's easy to lose hope for the future, isn't it? That's when I go to this promise:
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." –Jeremiah 29:11
As for what lies beyond, here's the greatest promise of all:
[Jesus says] "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son in to the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him." –John 3:16-17
So, it's Thanksgiving. Time for officially thanking the Giver. I forget sometimes that "ordinary" things are a blessing. Like being able to breathe in and out. Like eyes that work. Like the ability to call up happy memories. It took me way too long but I've learned life feels, um, happier when I remember to thank Him every day.
Each of the Bible verses I've quoted is underlined in my Bible. It took me way too many years before I picked up a pen and started underlining, but it has blessed my life. Countless times I've opened my old NIV and gone from one underlined verse to the next. Every time I feel my spirits lift.
Be wiser than I was and start now. Find Bible verses that speak to your heart and your spirit and mark them. Think through how they apply to you and your life. Keep them handy to pass on to someone who's hurting.
By the way, any time you feel alone, think of this verse and the word picture it paints. This is how God feels about you and me:
The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing. –Zephaniah 3:17
Imagine! Now there's a reason to give thanks . . .
Here's to a JOY-filled Thanks-giving day, every day,
Lenore
P. S. I'm thankful for you, my friend, for taking time to read my words.