Happy thanksgiving everyone. I am so thankful for my family and friends, of which I get to spend this day with. While I am thankful for those in my life, I am mindful of the fact that today is another day that can remind us of painful memories, or of painful loss that we have endured, which can feel like a reminder of better times gone by. I am mindful of loved ones who are going through extremely challenging life circumstances, and it is taking all that they have just to get through, and they do that day after day. I am aware of the division that exists in our world, and the loneliness that can result when we allow things like beliefs and life choices to keep us isolated from those we should be in community with. There is so much we can choose to be grateful for, but when we are feeling the weight of heavy emotions like sadness and grief, it can seem an impossible task to view life through that lens.
I recently had someone at church confide in me that they felt like "we never really get to live the life we want to live." As I pondered the sadness behind that statement, I also realized that this person is quite right, in the sense that we often view our lives. The reality is that since the beginning of creation when Adam and Eve walked on Earth and chose to rebel against God's plan for their lives to pursue their own selfish desires, no one has ever really been able to live the life they wanted to. The world we live in now, is not the world as God intended it to be. We live in a world that has been broken and corrupted by the effects of sin that we have all chosen to bring into it. The Bible says that, "We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way..," (Isaiah 53:6 NIV) which is what has brought sin into the world, by our rejection of God.
On this Thanksgiving, if you are feeling the weight of addiction, the sting of grief, or the loneliness of being separated from you loved ones, or anything else, then I have good news for you. Despite the fact that humanity brought evil into the world, which has caused all of this pain and suffering, God in his infinite love for us, initiated a rescue plan to save us from the punishment due for the consequences of our rebellion. For although the Bible says in the book of Romans 6:23 NIV that "...the wages of sin is death," the incredible news is that the rest of that same verse declares "...the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."
God has never promised that we get to live the life that we want to live in this world, that ship sailed long ago with the fall of humanity in the Garden of Eden. And yet, in a world where Jesus Christ himself told us that, "In this world you will have trouble," he also said to "take heart, because I have overcome the world," (John 16:33 NLT). In a world where instability often seems to reign, our confidence is assured to be well placed in our God, because "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever," (Hebrews 13:8 ESV).
Today, I am thinking and praying for the many that I know are going through hard times. My prayer is that despite the disappointment you may feel over how your life has turned out, or the pain you are feeling from the hand you have been dealt in this life, that you would allow Jesus Christ into your heart, as he is not just a God who is so remote from our Earthy experience that he doesn't know what we are dealing with. No, my friends, he is fully God in who he is, yet he fully entered into the humanity of our world and experienced pain and suffering on a scale we cannot fully comprehend with our limited understanding. We have a savior who knows what it is like to be rejected, and to carry the burden of sickness and pain. The prophet Isaiah painted the picture of Christ as our savior so beautifully here, several hundred years before he was born of the Virgin Mary:
"He grew up before him like a young plant and like a root out of dry ground. He didn’t have an impressive form or majesty that we should look at him, no appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of suffering who knew what sickness was. He was like someone people turned away from; he was despised, and we didn’t value him. Yet he himself bore our sicknesses, and he carried our pains; but we in turn regarded him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced because of our rebellion, crushed because of our iniquities; punishment for our peace was on him, and we are healed by his wounds," (Isaiah 53:2-5 CSB).
Today, I am thankful for all of those in my life that I get to share it with. Although I am also grateful for the physical things I have been entrusted with, my hope is not in them, or in money, or in my job, or my health, or my family or friends. Those things are temporal, and there is no guarantee that they will be here tomorrow. My hope is in Jesus Christ alone. For he "is my rock, my fortress, and my savior; my God is my rock, in whom I find protection. He is my shield, the power that saves me, and my place of safety," (Psalms 18:2 NLT). We may not get to live the life we want to in this world, but we are guaranteed that when we place our hope in Jesus Christ, he walks through it with us, and "the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus," (Philippians 4:7 ESV). In this world, we may not be guaranteed all of the physical things that we desire, but in spite of that, we are promised God's love and forgiveness, and eternal life with Him when we place our hope in Jesus Christ alone. I pray that you will experience God's hope and comfort on this Thanksgiving day, no matter what your life circumstances are. May you know that you are loved by the creator of everything, so much so that "He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life," (John 3:16 NLT) and that is something we can be eternally thankful for. Happy Thanksgiving everyone.
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