While [Canadian] Thanksgiving isn’t a religious holiday like Christmas and Easter, it’s an appropriate time of reflection for Christians. Christians should thankful. Our culture has convinced us that we need more than we have. So it’s important for us to take stock of the good things that God has given us. Everyone who lives in our community enjoys peace, natural beauty and a top-notch social safety net. Yet scripture tells us to go further than just saying thank you for the good things. James tells believers to give thanks in the hard stuff too, because we can be assured that God is at work in our disappointment, heartaches, and struggles. Christians should be giving thanks in all things.

All of this is not to say that Christians should fake happiness while they’re secretly miserable. Instead, we need to discipline ourselves to see our struggles from God’s perspective. Then we can have hope because we know that God is working out his plans even in the hard things in life. So giving thanks in all things becomes a choice to trust God’s goodness when our eyes don’t see it. Then our trust will show God’s power to others around us.

Questions for Reflection

1. What are the things I most want right now? Why do I want them?
2. What things has God given me that I am most thankful for?
3. What trials or temptations am I facing right now? Have I been able to discipline myself into viewing them with God’s eyes?