Thanksgiving

I haven't blogged in a long while. And to my avid readers, because I know you're out there... somewhere, I apologize. Has my life been filled with Barney Stinson "Thats is SO going in my blog!" moments? Yes. Have I had the will to do anything about it? No.

This break has been fruitless. I have no means of transportation so my chances of getting a job are very very slim. So my days consist of watching Phineas and Ferb, knitting, playing guitar and writing the great American novel. I'm so legit. Could I blog? Yes. Do I blog? No. Are we sensing a pattern here?

However today is Thanksgiving, and here I am to air my grievances against it.

Let me start this rant by saying that I adore Thanksgiving. It's the day we eat and eat and eat and eat and eat and eat and eat and eat till we can't eat anymore. It's a little bit beautiful.

However, when I awoke this morning to a "Happy Thanksgiving" text from a friend, I did something awful. I thought in my head. "Today, I am thankful for my awesome hair day."

Seriously Kirsten? Seriously? That's what you're thankful for?

Granted, my hair does look awesome today, but that's not the point. The point is the complacency into which we as a culture and myself personally have fallen.

If you ever feel the need to pray for me, pray that I never become complacent. Because honestly that's one of my biggest vices. Complacency leads to laziness which seems to have earned the title for the least offensive sin ever. But I can attest the exact opposite. It's lethal. It pulls you down and makes it seem like noting's happening until you've reached the point of no return. Laziness is not cool.

But that's where we are. We're thankful for our cars and our pretty faces and our good hair days. And yes, all those things are gifts from God, but do we value those tiny, insignificant things above the true gifts of God?

1 Thessalonians 5:18 says "Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus." Not in all your good things, not only in the pleasant times, not just when you and God are on awesome terms and everything is going your way. In all circumstances, be thankful. This means be thankful in your storms and in your weakness. Be thankful when nothing is going the way you want it. Be thankful when you don't understand what He's doing at all. Because this is Gods will. That's the main thing. It's His will. Do we value our own comfort and will above that of our Creator and Savior?

Disclaimer: I'm about to quote Katy Perry.

After a hurricane comes a rainbow.

Ok, that was rough, but it's largely true. Now to steer away from Katy Perry and back to the bible.

Romans 8:28, possibly one of the most well known verses says "And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them." Going along with what's said about thankfulness in Thessalonians, it is the will of God that we be thankful, not just because of the good, but the bad as well. Because in the large scheme of things, God's got this one. Seriously. He works ALL things together for good for those who love Him. Not the good things, not the pretty happy churchy things, not the things that you'd be happy to share with everyone. All things. So even in the worst parts of life, even when we don't understand, we can know that God understands everything, and He orchestrates everything together for the good of His bride.

So we're thankful when life sucks. We're thankful when we fail. We're thankful when there's death and destruction and all sorts of awful sin, because nothing is too big for God. When we, in our tiny view of time and space and reality, foolishly think that we know what He's doing, or that He's doing nothing at all, loose the ability to be truly thankful. Because you have to be broken down to be rebuilt. You have to go through pain to grow. You have to truly realize how depraved we are and how perfect God is to truly be thankful. We often loose sight of the great chasm between the character of us and God. We delude ourselves into believing that we're not that bad, or that God is not that good. But when you drop your pretenses, and look at the situation for what it really is, the only response to God is begging for forgiveness. And because He is good, the only good, He does. The only response to priceless forgiveness is endless thanksgiving.

So lets make thanksgiving every day (Not the eating part, because that could open a whole different can of unpleasantries). I'm thankful for my failures, because through them God has proved victorious. I'm thankful for my weaknesses, because in them God is my strength. And most of all I am eternally, truly and mournfully grateful for my Saviour and best friend, Jesus, and for His never ending redemptive love that surpasses anger, His mercy that surpasses justice and His death that allows me to truly live.