How Am I to Be Thankful?

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By Brian Waple

As we’re preparing for Thanksgiving, I’ve been thinking about the events of the past week and asking “God, how am I to be thankful?” I’m flying back to Virginia this week because of a serious concern within my own family. There are serious concerns within the Elim family, the nation, and the world that cause us to pause and ask, “How can I be thankful when all of these things are happening?”

I read a post from Katie Kierum the other day, part of which read: “I’m beginning to realize that the purest kind of worship we can experience is through brokenness.” Our brokenness. The brokenness of those we love and care about. It’s through brokenness that we really become aware of just how fragile we are, and how utterly dependent we are on God. And He remains faithful towards us, in spite of us. This alone is cause enough for us to be thankful.

So why does He remain faithful towards us? We certainly don’t deserve it. And it’s certainly not because of anything we’ve done. I think the best answer lies in Scripture. In Romans 5:8 — “but God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” In Ephesians 2:4-6 — “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ — by grace you have been saved — and raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” And finally, in John 3:16 — “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.”

God enfolds us in His arms, broken and pitiful as we are, because He loves us. His kindness and blessings abound. Regardless of what is happening, God loves us and His love for us is everlasting.

So, in spite of everything that is happening to us and around us, in spite of our failings and brokenness, even if we fail to be faithful, God still loves us. And that is how we are to be thankful.

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