Give Thanks and Give Hope
Our attitude towards life is a daily choice we make. We’ve likely all heard the phrase “Someone got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.” I don’t know about you but I get up on the same side of the bed each morning. I’m sure a quick google search will tell you the origins of that phrase but it is similar to the “You can’t have your cake and eat it too.” It doesn’t make a lot of sense because if I’ve got cake near me, I plan on eating it. (Looking at you teacher’s lounge thief.) This week there will be plenty of cake and other things to eat as Thanksgiving approaches. It will be hard for me to practice self discipline with so much available. Another discipline that will receive focus this week is the art of thankfulness.
If you are like me I could stand to be a lot more thankful the rest of the year as well. Yesterday I celebrated the three year anniversary of coming home from the hospital after a 5 week stay in Huntsville Hospital due to a leukemia diagnosis. I didn’t even realize until my Facebook memories hit my notifications later in the day. It was kind of a shock that I had lost track of the days and would’ve missed it. I hope that has more to do with forgetfulness than my lack of being grateful. Either way thankfulness is a muscle we must exercise daily. How do we gain more appreciation?
Set reminders. One of the great technological advances of having a super computer in your pocket is the calendar app. I do this with everything and I do it in the moment as much as possible. Throughout pre-smart phone history this has been accomplished in multiple ways. We see as far back as Genesis those who followed God and received his blessings would set up reminders or “ebenezers” (1 Samuel 7) of God keeping his promise. They used the same paths repeatedly and would pass by those stacks of stones and be reminded of God’s greatness like Jacob in Genesis 28:18-19 and Joshua in Joshua 4:20.
Another way is to “be a blessing.” We often times pray for blessings and there is nothing wrong with that prayer. But have you ever prayed to be a blessing to others. One of the awesome attributes of God’s people throughout the Bible is the people of God bless those around them even when they aren’t happy about it. Jonah is an example of being a blessing even through stubbornness. Jacob’s presence on Laban’s farm although not intentionally, was a blessing (Genesis 30:27-28). How much more impactful can we be if we intentionally plead with God to open our eyes to the opportunities to bless people. It’s another way we can look like Jesus. Jesus is the perfect combination of God’s ability
“Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us,” Ephesians 3:20 ESV
his authority
“And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.” Colossians 1:18 ESV
and his humility
“who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” Philippians 2:6-8 ESV
It would be easy to respond to those attributes as impossible for man. I would agree it is impossible for man alone but don’t miss those words Paul includes in that Ephesians verse. He says “the power at work within us.” Paul spends a large amount of time encouraging his readers to do what many deemed impossible but because he believed in the ability of God to remind us but also equip us. He follows in the footsteps of those before him from Abraham to the author and the finish line of our faith, Jesus (Hebrews 11 & 12). If we trust in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob then we too can remind one another to be a blessing to others.
Travis