God does good

     “We give thanks to you, O God; we give thanks, for your name is near.  We recount your wondrous deeds.”  Those words from Psalm 75:1 are a fitting reminder to us as we think about the next part of our Thanksgiving preparation.  I quoted Psalm 119:68 in my previous post: “You are good and do good.”  I encouraged you there to think about God’s character and his nature as you prepare yourself for Thanksgiving.
     Today, I'd like you to begin shifting your thinking toward what God has done.  This is a little bit dangerous because we can sometimes allow it to be a process in which God answers to us for how well he has treated us.  Don't fall into the trap of thinking that the more good things God has done in your life; the more reason you have to be thankful.  It is valuable to think about all that God has done though.  Think about the sending of Jesus to accomplish the possibility that you could have a relationship with God as his child.  Think about the way he has led you through the years of your life.  Some of it has been very painful.  Some of it has been thrilling.  Much of it has been somewhere in the middle of that continuum.  All of it bears the imprint of God's faithfulness more and more as the years progress.
     This was the practice of the children of Israel.  As they moved out of bondage in Egypt and through the wilderness wanderings into the promised land, they set up memorials with the specific purpose that when their children saw those memorials and asked what they stood for, the parents could relay to the next generation how faithful God had been to his promise.  Remember that there were many Israelites who lived their entire lives and died while still a slave in Egypt.  For the children of Israel to remember God's faithfulness they needed to look at a bigger picture than their immediate situation.  They had to step back, so to speak.
     As you approach the Thanksgiving holiday; it is an opportunity for you to spend a “big picture” day.  Review the past year as a whole and even further back into your personal history.  Think about where you were in your walk with God at various stages of your life, and where He has brought you now.  I suspect that, even though there have been painful times, you will find that stepping back away from the puzzle helps you to regain your perspective.
     One of the things I enjoy about the Psalms is how they focus on praise and thanksgiving even when circumstances have not yet changed.  They don’t maintain this focus because of an unchecked optimism that ignores the realities of life, but because of an unswerving confidence in the one who governs those realities.  The same can be true of you.

     As you spend some time in the next days focusing on your reasons for thanksgiving, be purposeful about it.  Reject the tendency to allow God's faithfulness in your past fade out of view.  Resist the temptation to allow your level of thankfulness to be dependent on your current circumstances.  Let the big picture jump start your Thanksgiving Day celebration a few days early.