As we come to Thanksgiving 2020, perhaps more so than any other year in recent history, in the year of Covid-19, we need to pause and reflect on the goodness and grace we have experienced from God and to offer to Him our sacrifice of thanksgiving (Psalm 116:17).
As I think about the blessings God has poured out in my life, I am grateful for the covenant relationship I with my Father. I know that I am loved by Him and that He desires to break into my life and lead me according to His good purposes; that daily He invites me to walk with Him, to fellowship with Him. Here I think of the words of God to the prophet Jeremiah: Let not the wise boast of their wisdom or the strong boast of their strength or the rich boast of their riches, but let the one who boasts boast about this: that they have the understanding to know me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth (Jeremiah 9:23-24).
I am also grateful that God watches over me; He is the God who sees and the God who cares, who provides and protects those who belong to Him. The Psalmist writes: He will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore (Psalm 121:7-8). As I comtemplate all that has happened in these past months, I am particularly grateful for God's intervening grace in the life of our son Scott. On the night he was hospitialized with the coronavirus, God revealed Himself once again as the God who sits up with us. We are grateful for the safe and healthy arrival of our grandson, Riley and for the grace extended to him when he too was diagnosed with Covid-19. In the early days of the pandemic, that was a scary time but looking back, God has been good to our family.
So, not surprisingly, I am thankful for family and friends; for a church family that is sharing this journey with us. The Bible says we have been knit together in love (Colossians 2:2 - NKJV); that we should love one another deeply, from the heart (1 Peter 1:22). Over the past 13 years we have shared some mountain top experiences and at times we have walked through the valley together and in all things, our God has remained faithful and God. As I give thanks, I'm so glad I'm a part of the family of God.
My friends at Valley, God has been so very good to you, what do you say?
As you pause and reflect this Thanksgiving, I want to invite you to respond to this posting by sharing three things for which you are thankful.
I will praise God’s name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving (Psalm 69:30).