Dear
Fellow Children of God,
With the National Day of Thanksgiving approaching,
conventional wisdom calls for everyone to be “thankful.” (‘Conventional wisdom,’ however, is not
always wise!) People often make lists of
blessings as a reminder to give thanks.
I have led congregations to make lists during Thanksgiving worship
services. Our family, at times, has gone
around the Thanksgiving dinner table and shared reasons each has for
thankfulness.
In truth, all of us have blessings in our lives which call
for thankful hearts. Some of us do seem to have more blessings than
others. But, it is easy to be thankful
when we are considering the good times of life.
Yet, God has a different standard.
God’s direction is not to only “Give thanks when life goes well.” Please listen to a couple of verses in which God
calls His children to an unexpected heart of thankfulness.
In 1 Thessalonians 5:18 God calls Christians to, “give thanks
in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.” Did you hear that?
God does not just call for thanks when life seems to be going well. God’s call is to “give thanks in all
circumstances!” Then, in Colossians
3:15 God instructs us. “And whatever you do, whether in word or
deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father
through him.” (See also Ephesians 5:20.) We give
thanks, not just in happy times, but in “whatever you do.” Also, please notice, we do this “in the name of the Lord Jesus!”
So, how do we
give thanks when life is difficult? One of my greatest earthly blessings, if
not the greatest, is my family. On
Wednesday, November 16, I visited the grave of my parents. At the cemetery, I noticed close by the grave
of young man who had died at the age of 33.
His family had included a Bible verse on his marker. “As the mountains surround
Jerusalem, so the LORD surrounds his people both now and forevermore.” (Psalm 125:2)
Yes, life has blessings.
But we are also faced with challenges, disappointment, failure, loss,
suffering, and much more pain. We are sinful
people in a sinful world. The results of
sin are empirically evident through the evil in our world. But, this family knew that, not only in the
good times of life, but also in the gut-wrenching loss of a beloved family
member to death, God is still there surrounding His people. The goodness and love of God are greater than
the sin and pain of life. The goodness
and love of God in the midst of life’s pain is truly reason for thanks.
Christians can begin to understand this reason for
thankfulness even in the midst of life’s trials. Jesus came to earth, not in spite of sin, but
because of sin. Jesus lived in a sinful
world, suffering death because of the weight of sin. The Lord of Life died to deal with the sin of
the world, the guilt of my sin and the guilt of your sin. THANKFULLY, Jesus rose from death, defeating
our enemies of sin, Satan, and death.
Even when the sin of this world brings injustice and trauma, suffering
and pain, Jesus is present in love and victory.
So, those who know the Lord and believe in Jesus can “give thanks
in all circumstances.”
I do believe that it is a good spiritual exercise on Thanksgiving to name the many blessings God lavishes upon us, partly because the pain of life can lead us to forget the good gifts of our Lord. But, maybe it is also worth naming the trials and the evil of life and to then declare, with St. Paul, “But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians 15:57) That is truly reason for thanks!
A Child of God, Seeking a Heart of Thankfulness
Even When Life Hurts!
Pastor Jonathan
P.S. As I wrote
above, one of my greatest earthly blessings is my family. On Wednesday, November 16, I visited the
grave of my parents. The cemetery is
still picking up after last week’s storm.
But, here is a picture of their grave from that day. https://photos.app.goo.gl/4gPj3TtT8y1kRQCXA
P.P.S. Fishing,
well, my pattern while vacationing in Florida has been to fish on Tuesday,
Thursday, and Saturday. However, I did
not fish this past Thursday, November 10, because Hurricane / Tropical Storm
Nicole was passing over. So, instead I
fished Friday, Saturday, and Tuesday in the past week. J I have MANY reasons
for THANKS!
·
On Friday, November 11, I fished with my brother
Stephen in the Tsala - Apopka Chain of Lakes.
We did well. Here are some
pictures. https://photos.app.goo.gl/jjYiwmRrrRdSeuLKA
·
On Saturday, November 12, I tried a new spot,
and went fishing below the Rodman Dam. I
caught two small bass and saw LOTS of big gators. Here are some pictures. https://photos.app.goo.gl/6cVvWDd7kV1NeJb26
·
My last fishing trip for this Florida visit - on
Tuesday, November 15, I went fishing with brother-in-law, Mark Reaves. It was a great way to end this visit to
FL. We caught about 20 bass, kept 6, and
even released the biggest, and other nice fish.
Here are pictures. https://photos.app.goo.gl/JokCXy83VGnfDc2d8
*****
ABOUT THIS DEVOTION - I retired at the end of August 2019
from serving as senior pastor of St. John Lutheran Church in Palmer, AK. I was writing a weekly devotion previously entitled,
"Thoughts from the Pastor."
When I retired many asked me to continue writing these devotions. So I have continued writing. However, with life's changes I now call this
weekly devotion "Journeys Through Life as a Child of God." Since I am no longer senior pastor at St.
John, I felt it right to only send this message to those who asked to receive
it. (Though I am now serving again
part-time at St. John as assistant to the pastor.)
So, if you
stopped receiving these devotions and wondered why, now you understand. And, if you are now receiving these devotions
and do not wish to receive them, please let me know, and I’ll gladly remove
your name from my distribution list. My
e-mail address is jonrock53@mtaonline.net.
My prayer
is that these devotions help each of you in your daily walk with our Lord,
Jesus.
*******
Jonathan Rockey
Child of God
Husband, Father, Son, Grandfather
Pastor Emeritus, St. John Lutheran Church
E-Mail: jonrock53@mtaonline.net
“1 John 3:1 How great is the love the
Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that
is what we are!” (1 John 3:1 a)
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