By Chad Huffman, NRCA Bible Department Head
Thanksgiving is around the corner! Everyone is getting ready for the upcoming holiday in various ways—planning their calendars, writing out their ingredient lists, and perhaps even looking for a new recipe to try. We look forward to the family, the friends, and the food. But a typical frustration emerges in people’s hearts at this time of the year—why can I not, in the moment, be the recipient of a general mood of thankfulness? Why can I not, when the day calls for it, feel thankful?
For many, the holiday can become a check-the-box type of thing. For others, you find yourself feeling roughly thankful. Perhaps you will conjure up something around the table akin to a reason for why you are thankful or happy with things in your life, but then you will hurry off to serve the pie or check the score of the football game. There are all the proverbial bells-and-whistles that dominate the holiday mindset—family and friends, time off from work, a traditional family vacation, kids getting out of school, college students returning home, shopping, food, excitement, and... busyness. I like them all, except that last word. It makes me feel anxious and looms large in my mind. It overshadows all the good things during this holiday season. I know that I must be busy, as there are “umpteen” things to plan and do!! But sometimes the busyness just settles on me, and I find myself in the mindset of just doing and never being. How do I get out of this rut?!
I think we do well to remember that the true point of hope for Thanksgiving is that we are not alone, and that God is more than willing to meet us where we are. We know that God is near to those who do His will, and the Scripture reminds us of the following truth: “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thess. 5: 16-18 ESV). An article I read recently made the point that Thanksgiving is really a way to connect with God, to acknowledge Him in our life and to be appreciative of His grace in our lives. In that there is a wonderful reality—feeling thankful is about connecting with God and not going through the motions or checking the box.
Yet there must be some preparation on my part. There must be some room that I make in my life for God during the holiday season. If I am to be thankful, then I need to practice thankfulness. It might begin with reading this devotion, or it might begin as you offer, in your daily prayers, an authentic word of thankfulness to God for the good things in your life. The point—practicing thankfulness now is my spiritual preparation for the holiday season to come, and when Thanksgiving Day does come around, I will find myself feeling thankful because I have been practicing thankfulness.
Of all the things that you know you will need to prepare for in this upcoming holiday season, why would you not prepare your heart the most? Let a prepared heart full of true thankfulness be yours this Thanksgiving and in the upcoming holiday season! I pray it finds you full—with thankfulness and with God in Christ!