Thanksgiving is almost here. It’s that time of year when we put greater emphasis on being grateful. When we contemplate all God has done and provided.
But many of us are still recovering from everything 2020 threw at us. And 2021 has brought trouble of its own.
Although you may just want to skip Thanksgiving this year, it’s more important than ever that we give God our praise and gratitude. (Keep reading for a 15-day guide that will give you 15 things for which we can all thank God.)
Thanking God in Hard Times
Trials, difficulty, and persecution filled the apostle Paul’s life. Yet he not only purposefully practiced thanksgiving he also called the church to a constant attitude of gratitude even in times of difficulty. For instance, when the church in Thessalonica suffered persecution, Paul wrote:
“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, NIV
And from prison in Rome, Paul encouraged the Philippians:
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7, NIV
Paul knew that even when our physical circumstances are dire, God is present and God is working for our good and His glory. Purposefully focusing on giving Him thanks opens the door to joy and peace even in the midst of heartache and struggle. (See “Thankful Even Now.”)
Why Should We be Thankful?
Several Hebrew and Greek words are translated as “thank,” “thanks,” and “thanksgiving” in the Bible. However, they all reflect the truth that our good God deserves the gratitude and praise of His people. Thankfulness is the right response to God and His grace in our lives.
God wants our thanksgiving and commands us to be thankful. He doesn’t need anything from us but He does expect us to respond to who He is and what He does with gratitude.
I don’t need the bulls you sacrifice; I don’t need the blood of goats. What I want instead is your true thanks to God; I want you to fulfill your vows to the Most High. Trust me in your times of trouble, and I will rescue you, and you will give me glory. Psalm 50:13-15, NLT
We don’t deserve anything, yet God provides. We don’t deserve forgiveness or salvation, yet God extends it. Every good thing in our lives is an act of grace from our loving and merciful heavenly Father. Even strength and endurance in times of difficulty are grace gifts from God.
Giving thanks to God for His mercy and kindness is a blessing and a privilege. It shifts our attitude and makes us more aware of God’s activity in our lives. It humbles us and allows us to see just how truly great our God is! (See “God is Good Even in Loss.”)
A Thanksgiving Guide
We may all feel a little rusty when it comes to thanking and praising God. So, I’ve put together a 15-day Thanksgiving Guide. It will take you from today through the end of November. Use the Scriptures and prompts to thank God for what He provides and how He works in your life and the world. The day’s Scripture passage can be read before you pray or as part of your prayer. Pray quietly by yourself, with your family, or both!
Download the 15-Day Thanksgiving Guide Printable
Let’s give each other some prompts for thanksgiving now! Share something to praise or thank God for in the comments!
I thank God for the healing of our newborn great niece born Wednesday. The life-threatening holes in her heart are healing and she will not have to have open heart surgery now. The doctors said the other surgery can wait until she is older.
Definitely something to be thankful for! Thank you, Lord Jesus, for hearing and answering!
Praise God for His healing hand!
Kathy, I’m Ephesians 3:20 thankful. My daughter will graduate from college this week and is nearing the end of a long interview process, the only applicant who has made it this far, so we are anticipating a possible job offer soon. This child struggled with finding her self all through high school, never felt like enough, etc. She majored in TV/film and found her “thing.” I’ve prayed Jer. 29:11 and God’s perfect will over her so hard. I’ve asked Him to stand at the end of the path she should be on and draw her to Him. I’ve asked that wherever she ends up, that her skills are used for the Kingdom. And now…it appears He may be leading her to work for a church, which was never on her radar. If she gets the position she will be the technical director in charge of live streaming the service and editing video for their off-site campus. There’s so much more to this story – all the little connections, all the chess pieces God has moved in the past few years that make hindsight 20/20 – but Ephesians 3:20 – more than we could ever guess or request or imagine in our wildest dreams! So thankful!
Thank you for sharing this Karen! What an incredible testimony! Such a good example of how God works over the long-run through our circumstances. We may not see or understand what He is doing right now in this minute. But we can trust that He is working out His purposes for our good and His glory!
I thank God for his divine protection over my family and also for great blessings. My husband got a new job in Oct which is a great blessing to our family
In mid September I had a stroke with a large bleed in the left front lobe of my brain, followed by several seizures that kept me in the hospital for 22 days. On my first follow up appointment with a nurse practitioner, my family and I were told we were sitting in the presence of a miracle because, no leaves the hospital with what I had!
Now, 2 months and 4 days later I am almost back to my normal self.
Praise God!! That truly is a miracle story! Thanks for sharing this!
Thanksgiving of 2019 was harder than it will be in 2020 for me. You see last year was the first one without my mom. I spent it with a friend and her family. This year because of my Gastric Bypass surgery I could not partake of a reg traditional meal and COVID has made it easier on knowing I will not have to deal with the holiday foods that I don’t want and don’t want to have to explain over and over as to why I am not eating _________. I eat 4oz total of meat only and that takes me an hour to eat anyway. So this year will be a breeze being along with my 4oz of meat enjoying myself and whoever might pop on FB that day.
hi Kathy…i haven’t seen my 2 American grandchildren since last Thanksgiving and obviously i won’t be seeing them this year…until who knows when? i am thankful for our virtual connection but longing for the real thing. your blog is a good reminder to trust God, to praise Him, to wait on Him. thank you.
Oh friend! That is hard. I went from January to October without being able to see Mom. We went to Knoxville for my nephew’s wedding in mid-October and the nursing home gave me special permission to see her because of COVID. She passed away 2 weeks later. That was a God blessing indeed.
My husband and I were married in January of this year, so we are definitely still newlyweds. Between us we have eight children and fourteen grandchildren so far. On November 2, he had two stents put in his heart. It has been a rough two weeks, but Thank God he is doing great and is back to work. I must admit I was disappointed when only two of our children ever asked how he was doing and only one of the two helped us in anyway. Would you believe it was my two youngest sons and none of his. I never thought something like this would bypass his children in offering to be there for him, if only in phone calls or maybe a get well card. Now I’m leery of inviting any of children and/or grandchildren over again as I don’t want to cause any problems. I believe God will guide us in the proper way to deal with this.