About Thanks-Giving

Thanksgiving. We could look at this time of year with anticipation, trepidation, or any manner of anxiety. By separating the word into two parts, thanks-giving, we can see what this time of year is all about.

Thanks involves realizing how very blessed we are and how much God has provided for us throughout the year. It's an "attitude of gratitude," to borrow a term from our friends at Alcoholics Anonymous. This is not a mere superficial "thank you" that we may say when someone gives us a token item, but rather a daily exercise of being aware of the many ways our heavenly Father provides for our every need. Gratitude carries with it a responsibility to act out our thanksgiving, which leads us to the next part.

Giving is an action rooted in gratitude. When was the last time you were inclined to give out of a heart of misery? With thanks comes the desire to give. Recalling all that He has provided us throughout the year, let us look for ways to show our thanks. It may be a simple smile and "hello" as we pass one another in the Welcome Center. It may be listening to a neighbor who has had a hectic week and needs to talk to someone. Or, it may be gaining an attitude that tells those around us that we are thankful for life.

When the Bible teaches us that "God loves us a cheerful giver" (2 Cor. 9:7b), we are to give from an overflowing gratitude, not just with a smile. The previous passage teaches us about sowing and reaping, but it's the first part of the verse that reveals where this attitude begins: "So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity."

Thanks-giving then becomes an action of gratitude expressed to one another. Let us look for ways to serve our neighbors this season as we are acting out our attitudes of gratitude.

On Joy and Long-Suffering

This hyphenated variation of the word "patience" often brings with it a sense of hopelessness. To suffer long is to endure all matter of emotional and mental strain, sometimes manifesting itself in the physical realm. By that, I mean, long-suffering is down right draining. How long must it go on? Until it's done. That sounds trite, I know, but it's the truth.



Have you ever wondered what the purpose of suffering is? I sure have. Why is it even a part of the human experience? It seems other things could take its place, like joy, for instance. By the way, joy is NOT the absence of suffering, just like peace is not the absence of war. Joy can be found while suffering. It's not masochistic joy, like enjoying pain, but rather a sort of comfort knowing that this is not a prolonged existence. We live in a temporal world - everything has its time; a beginning and an end. Nice and neat, right? Wrong. The mysteriousness of suffering has long troubled humanity, especially when we relate to God.



How many times have you heard someone ask "how can a loving God allow this to happen?" The "this" is generally a catastrophic event, something horrific, something fatal. Here's where we must pause and ask ourselves an important question:



Are we God?



No.



Herein is the mystery of the ultimate purpose of suffering. This is what I like to call God's Business. We have no business entering this realm, a place where our human faculties cannot discern meaning. This is where long-suffering resides along with others like understanding why loved ones die before their time. Who are we to judge someone else's time on this earth? This is not our concern. Sure we miss them each day, and sure there's a lot of pain involved, and maybe other things have happened to us that don't make sense, but that gives us no right to question His plan. Thankfully, we can still ask Him about these things and that's part of the purpose of suffering.



Crises brings pain on many levels, depending on their severity. Suffering is painful. Have you asked God, I mean really asked God to help you understand things? All He wants is communion with you, to be near you, to have you approach Him and ask Him about life.



It's His business to know - He created all of it. Does this answer why we suffer long? No, but it does provide an opportunity to find joy and peace in the midst of it.

Grace and Thorns

A rather troubling passage comes from Paul's second letter to the church in Corinth. In the 12th chapter, verses 7-10, Paul describes being afflicted with "a thorn in the flesh," something placed in him to keep him firmly planted on the ground, lest he end up like Icarus. He states that he pleaded 3 times with the Lord to remove it. His answer? "My grace is sufficient for you." The thorn remains, in other words.

At first glance this is troubling; however, once you've identified it, you realize how very much God cares for you, that He would place something within our flesh to humble us, to keep us real. Paul described it as coming from Satan, a messenger sent to beat him when necessary. The necessary times are when Paul has received revelation. It's critical to understand that God has dominion over all, including Satan (read Job). Paul knows where to give credit for this affliction, yet remains steadfast in his trust of the Lord. Later passages explain how the weakest moments bring about God's strength and glory. Paul didn't revel in his own bravado during these times, but rather turned to the One who's grace is sufficient.

Have you identified the thorn in your flesh, the area in your life where you have the greatest weakness? Think, pray, and ask God to reveal it to you, although you probably already know what it is. It's the one area in your life where you are tempted the most by the enemy. In many ways, it feels like a thorn twisting into your side, causing immense pain, getting your undivided attention. Do you know what I mean?

This passage in 2 Corinthians speaks of our need to be aware of our weaknesses, but to not try to strengthen them or get rid of them. Rather, we are to see them as tools the Lord uses to mold us and shape us into His likeness. His glory is what matters, not our discomfort.

His grace is sufficient.

Into God's Imagination: Antarctica

Magnificent desolation. Two words not normally bound together.

A trip to Antarctica in 2005 is responsible for this union. Traveling to the end of the world and entering into the last true wilderness on our home planet sparked a deep yearning within me to get to know the Creator of this alien world.

Have you ever experienced total silence? It's not possible where we live; we are surrounded by static noise 24/7/365. Even in a forest, a wilderness to some, sounds of life permeate the air. Absolute silence knocked me to the terra firma, to a stoney crag on the pennisula of the Antarctic continent. I sat as motionless as possible, even held my breath, and strained my ears to hear it.

For a few moments, I felt as though I was in the very throne room of God Almighty Himself, in all of His infinite glory. The sun shone across a vast white and silvery landscape, splinters of light reflected and refracted off of icebergs and a distant glacier. The color blue beckoned me to remain silent as I beheld the work of the Artist of the universe.

When one encounters the stark beauty of a wilderness such as this, one cannot help but wonder the purpose for it. No man nor nation can lay claim to it, and no plant life calls it home. No animal lives there, though a few species migrate to mate and breed. Man has, unfortunately, staked out a few claims here and there for scientific purposes, but no man holds title to its lands.

Anarctica offers us mere mortals a glimpse into the Infinite's imagination, a place we cannot possibly comprehend, let alone begin to think. It's as though we were meant NOT to think, but just to experience God's majesty, power, and might in this wilderness. No other place on the planet affords us this opportunity.