Hard to Feel Thankful

One of my most enduring memories of the Thanksgiving season is from my childhood.  I had (and still have) a beloved aunt, who lived with her preacher husband and four sons in Huntington, WV.  Many years, we would travel there from Georgia, to celebrate Thanksgiving.  I remember one year that my cousin, Paul, and I went bike-riding.  I thought Huntington was a very exotic and exciting place.  One of the reasons was that my cousins lived in a "vertical house" - - basement, main floor, second floor and, wonder of wonders, attic!  (We lived in a ranch with a creepy, dirt floor basement at the time.)  Another reason was the cobblestone streets in their neighborhood, much like the picture above.  They were beautiful but, when you tried to ride your bike over them, they nearly beat you to death!  It was a rough ride!

A couple of days ago was Thanksgiving Day, one of my top two American holidays.  I've mentioned before that I have spent some other "Thanksgivings" feeling ... not so thankful.  Perhaps this was true of you this year.  Perhaps this Thanksgiving and upcoming Christmas season is for you "a rough ride".

While Thanksgiving Day is a cherished holiday, when many of us intentionally gather to thank God for each other and for our other many blessings, God makes it plain in His word that we should be thankful daily in ALL circumstances.  (Example:1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)

This, frankly, seems crazy, does it not?  (Yeah, I mean, Psalm 92:6 ESV says "the fool can't understand this").  It's a tall order, for sure.

Almost every day, for a person my age, I learn of a friend or loved one or friend-of-a-friend, who has received devastating news.  How does one thank God for that?  When one does not feel at all thankful?

The secret is . . . praise, even if it is "forced praise", praise you don't feel like giving, a focus on the Almighty when you'd rather focus on yourself and your challenges in this life.

To quote Dr. Michael Youssef - - - {underlines are mine}

"Oh, you may begin your praise out of a sense of duty. You may come to God only out of obedience and begin praising Him without having a completely thankful heart. But once you start praising God, you cannot continue for long without that negative spirit breaking. I have seen this happen over and over again in my own life. No matter how bleak or sad my circumstances, I am uplifted as I praise the Lord. As I honor God for who He is and for the glorious things He has done, my eyes are opened to God’s abundant provision and blessing."1

Nowhere in the Psalms or other places in Scripture where we are commanded to give thanks and praise to God do we find "if and when we 'feel' it".  What and how we feel is irrelevant, in this matter.
We are commanded to DO it.  And, the harder it is do it, the louder we should do it.  Often in the Bible people who were "getting serious" with God were LOUD about it.

Almost in every case when someone gets bad news they ask, "please pray for me".  Of course, what they are requesting is that we pray and enlist others to pray that the adverse circumstances will change, just as the early Christians prayed for Peter to be released from prison.  That is right and good!  (May we have more faith in praying than did they, because when Peter showed up at the door after being released, they were surprised to see him!)

However, let me encourage you as you pray, to begin with praise.

Isaiah is a good example for us here.  In his book, chapters 15-24, he is prophesying woe upon woe upon woe on practically every nation in his part of the world.  But, in chapters 25 and 26, he just stops . . . and praises the LORD!   Isaiah 25:1 (NIV) - -

O LORD, you are my God; I will exalt you and praise your name,

for in perfect faithfulness you have done marvelous things, things planned long ago.

I love how Isaiah declares the truth that God is perfectly faithful - - not sometimes faithful, but perfectly faithful!  And, Isaiah praises God for the marvelous things He is going to do!  Furthermore, our loving God knows the end from the beginning (Isaiah 46:10).  Nothing that He allows to touch us surprises Him in the least.

Praise is, then, the appropriate first step in our praying.  When we begin by praising God, our thankfulness then follows as the Holy Spirit fills us up with Himself.  In the middle of his anguish David "got" this.  He was one who praised loudly.  Note what he proclaimed in Psalm 69:30 (ESV) - - - -

I will praise the name of God with a song;
I will magnify him with thanksgiving.

Lord God, some of us are currently fallen at the feet of our Savior, grabbing onto His feet and ankles with all we have in us, begging for a change in our circumstances.  Our pain and our fear are real.  Remind us of the sword You have already placed in our hands, the weapons you have already given us to demolish strongholds (2 Corinthians 10:3-4).  As we swing the weapon of prayer, may we always begin with reminding ourselves of how perfectly faithful and loving and good You are.  Thank you for the marvelous things you are doing and will continue to do in and through us, Lord!  In Jesus' name, amen.

Source:

1     Leading the Way "My Devotional" for November 24, 2018: "Spiritually Open".