Thanksgiving Day provides a chance for us to remember all the ways God has blessed us. But some of us would have to admit that gratitude doesn’t spring up spontaneously from our heart. Disappointment has darkened our heart this year.
If 2022 has been a year of heartache and frustration, I have a three-step process for developing a grateful heart in the midst of disappointment:
First, begin by thanking God for the obvious blessings that immediately come to mind. We take for granted so many things, assuming them as rights instead of as gifts from the King. As a country preacher once said, we’re a lot like hogs in an apple orchard: enjoying the good things around us but never looking up to see where they came from. To thank God for his gifts is to grasp the first rung on the ladder out of bitterness.
Second, ask God to show you how he has been at work this past year, and thank him for it. Too often heartache blinds us to all the ways God has been at work, but gratitude can restore our sight.
Finally, claim Romans 8:28 even over your disappointments: “We know that in everything God works for the good of those who love him” (NCV). While Step Two helps you see God’s work despite life’s frustrations, Step Three helps you see God at work within those very things! Here we find the highest proof of faith: to believe that even things that break our heart (and God’s) can be used of God to advance his purposes in our lives.
That’s at three-step process for how to give thanks. But why should we give thanks? This Sunday, we’ll study Psalm 33 to find four reasons. After the service, you’ll meet with your Life Group as usual, and then you can join us for our Churchwide Thanksgiving Dinner. The cost is $12 a plate. Find out more about it and secure your reservation by clicking here.
We won’t be sending out an edition of Winning Ways next week because of the Thanksgiving break. So let me go ahead and wish you an early blessing on your Thanksgiving Day
Tom
Tom Goodman serves as pastor at Hillcrest Church in Austin, Texas. His sermons are available on YouTube and the HillcrestToGo Podcast and you can find him on Facebook and Twitter. If someone forwarded this email newsletter to you, sign up here to receive Tom’s weekly devotional in your email inbox.