Thanks for Everything

I will bless the Lord at all times; praise shall always be in my mouth. My soul will glory in the Lord that the poor may hear and be glad. Magnify the Lord with me; let us exalt His name together (Ps. 34:1-4).

I find myself giving my home a deeper level of cleaning than usual these days, so as to prepare for the arrival of family and friends as the holiday season gears up. Sometimes I come across things that I forgot about or otherwise pushed off into a corner or closet that now need to be tended to or items that have escaped my attention and now must be cleaned up or cleared out. Once I do that, I find there is more room and feel a sense of wellbeing that my home is more organized. Tomorrow, we will be gathering around the Thanksgiving table with family and friends. There will be an abundance of food and drink, perhaps a football game or two. It is a time to reconnect, to make hearth and home once again the focal point of our attention, and to give thanks for all the blessings of the past year.

While the blessings have been numerous, I find myself now taking inventory of the seemingly negative things that have happened as well, and looking at them with a fresh set of eyes. This is, in part, due to a question posed to me a while back. I was asked, “Do you trust God for your trials?” Not “with” but “for.” It seemed a curious question at the time. But in all honesty, I’m one of those people who like to get things all arranged “just so” and then leave it there with no changes. A popular quip says that “God comforts the afflicted and afflicts the comfortable,” and I have no doubt I’m one of those to whom it is aimed. I’ve learned – sometimes reluctantly - that it is precisely through the difficulties and spiritual dust bunnies that God prods me to grow beyond my comfort zone, to move ever closer to that end for which I was created.

While we are doing the sweeping, cleaning, shopping, cooking and all those other activities that come with the holidays, let’s thank God for those difficulties and challenges in our lives that incite us into getting our spiritual house in order. Let us ask God to give us eyes to see Him bringing about good from these seemingly negative events, and for a spirit of gratitude for even these, for in all these things we conquer overwhelmingly through Him who loved us (Rom. 8:37).

Prayer Request: That the holidays will bring families closer together.

Prayer: Lord, our God, we give You thanks for all the blessings You have bestowed on us in this past year. We thank You also for the challenges that have been placed before us because we know that You can use them to draw us closer to Yourself. Help us to persevere through the difficulties that we might grow in virtue, and thus come to more closely imitate You who are our Life. We pray in the Holy Name of Jesus. Amen.