With Grateful Hearts

​We have had one strange year; 2020 has not gone as anyone expected or dreamed it would.  However, as we gather once again around this familiar holiday, there is still much we can be grateful for.  In fact, the Bible encourages us and tells us that in the midst of difficult times is when we must count our blessings and bring to mind the faithfulness of God.  Having a grateful heart in the middle of the trials and suffering in life is crucial to our spiritual health and continued growth during seasons of hardship.

​I love how Jeremiah eloquently reminds his soul of this basic truth in Lamentations 3.  During a time of great national calamity and loss, Jeremiah reminded himself of the one thing that never changes and it gave him hope.  

“But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope:  The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.  ‘The LORD is my portion,’ says my soul, ‘therefore I will hope in him.’”
~Lamentations 3:21-24

​So as you gather around your Thanksgiving table today, whether you’re with your usual family and friends or alone during this unique season, will you join me in remembering the power of a grateful heart?  Our situation may seem hopeless, the world may seem like it’s coming to an end, our nation may be falling apart and on the edge of calamity, loved ones may have been lost, jobs and livelihoods may have been pulled out from under you, you may be facing mental health challenges from isolation or not sure how you’ll go another day, but can we cling to and do what Jeremiah did?
 
“But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope.”  There’s always hope.  We just have to remind ourselves of what and who our hope is in.  God’s love never fails and His mercies never cease.  Though human leaders make dismal choices, political systems get corrupted, inequality occurs, and injustice happens, God is faithful and He is sovereign above the mess and chaos we see and experience here on earth.  Therefore, if we make the LORD our portion, or inheritance as the Hebrew word could be translated, we will have hope.
 
Therefore, this Thanksgiving, let’s come with grateful hearts.  Hearts focused on the faithfulness and goodness of God.  Let’s make the Lord, the God of creation, the Alpha and Omega, the Lion and the Lamb, the Author of history our portion, inheritance, and source of hope so that we can walk forward into an unknown future with confidence and hope.  I have no idea what the end of this year or the beginning of next will bring.  However, this I will call to mind and therefore have hope, that the Lord is my portion and therefore, I will hope in him.
 
Will you make that your declaration of faith this Thanksgiving and spend time praising God and thanking Him for His boundless mercy and grace, faithfulness and goodness, and the blessings He has generously given you? 
 
If we do this, our perspective will change and our souls will find reason to hope.  Therefore, let’s come with grateful hearts and remember God’s incredible faithfulness this year.
 
Happy Thanksgiving!