The Things We Aren’t Thankful For

As Thanksgiving approaches, I have been reflecting on the many things for which I am thankful. A loving husband and family. Three beautiful grandchildren. Dear friends who make me laugh and point me to Jesus. Not having to worry about practical needs such as shelter, food, and clothing…the list goes on and on. I am wondering if you, like me, tend to think of tangible things or people when you think of what you are thankful for.

Those tangible things and people are definitely gifts from God. But about the intangibles? What about those THINGS in our lives that have brought turmoil? Can we thank God for those events in our lives that we look back upon with sorrow or regret? Can we thank God for adversity that taught us how to trust Him in a deeper way? What about thanking Him for the mistakes we’ve made that weaved a new thread of wisdom in our lives? Hmm. That’s a new one. Thanking God for our mistakes? But God wasn’t caught off guard by those things. He lovingly uses them to teach us more of Him. “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God PREPARED IN ADVANCE” (Ephesians 2:10, emphasis mine). I see how God prepared me to minister to others by allowing some things in my life that I would not have chosen. But He knew in advance the good that would come of it.

God’s purpose for all believers is to conform us to the likeness of Jesus. The amazing thing is that nothing that happens in our lives is outside of God’s sovereign will, and He brings about His purpose for good in our lives through the mysterious dance of our free will and His sovereign will. God’s sovereign plan even includes our failures, and He lovingly uses them in our lives for good. “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28). That verse doesn’t say all things work for good except our bad choices. It says ALL things work together for good. He has a purpose even in our grief and mistakes. And that purpose is always for our good and His glory.

What things in your life do you wish had never happened? Can you thank God for them? In one of my favorite books, 31 Days toward Trusting God, Jerry Bridges writes, “Over all the actions and events of our lives, God is in control, doing as He pleases– not apart from those events or in spite of them but through them.”

What is God accomplishing through the difficult things in your life? This Thanksgiving, thank Him for the intangibles. Choose thankfulness by an act of your will, and see the truth of Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” God’s plan is always good. Even in those things we weren’t thankful for.

Reaching Out

The past has left scars, and though my life has been made new,
I still have some regrets from the things I’ve been through.
I remember the shame as sin stole my self-worth,
But your love had a plan for my life before birth.
So, Lord, I give you the past- all the pain through the years.
I know you can use it to dry others’ tears.
And, Lord, I give you the future and lift praise to Your name
That I can tell those around me how my life’s not the same.
Take everything You can use in my life.
Lord, I offer myself. Make me a pure sacrifice.
And the hurts fade away as I look in the face
Of one finding Your mercy and experiencing Your grace.
And the aches are now blessings- a welcome stab to my heart
As you work changes in lives and allow me to take part.
Oh, Lord, now I see just how sovereign You are.
It’s as I reach out to others that You heal my own scar.
-c. Bobbie Perkins