[Note: given the sometimes hectic approach to holidays, expect a few pre-posted posts this week and laggardly clearing of my moderation queue. I’ve not deserted twc, just may be busy. :-)]
Here’s a bald-faced theft of material from Chip Stam’s “Worship Quote of the Week.”
GIVING THANKS OR GRUMBLING? WHICH WILL IT BE?
We are to be “always and for everything giving thanks” (Eph. 5:20). Most of us give thanks sometimes for some things; Spirit-filled believers give thanks always for all things. There is no time at which, and no circumstance for which, they do not give thanks. They do so “in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,” that is because they are one with Christ and “to God the Father,” because the Holy Spirit witnesses with their spirit that they are God’s children and that their Father is wholly good and wise. Grumbling, one of Israel’s besetting sings, is serious because it is a symptom of unbelief. Whenever we start moaning and groaning, it is proof positive that we are not filled with the Spirit. Whenever the Holy Spirit fills believers, they thank their heavenly Father at all times for all things. —John Stott. BAPTISM AND FULLNESS, Second Edition. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1976, p. 58. ISBN 0877846480.
And along those lines, if you think you have little to be thankful for, try Romans 8:28 (and surrounding verses) and then consider these words from Cynthia Clausen:
God is too wise to be mistaken.
God is too good to be unkind.
So when you don’t understand,
when you don’t see His plan,
When you can’t trace His hand, trust His heart.
Late-breaking *heh* addition: The Random Maniyak has a complementary post that deals with a subject central to Thanksgiving (yes, it does), while the Random Yak tries to create a sense of purpose (ex nihilo, as it were) in Random Thanksgiving thoughts.
