The Thankful List
Joyce Landorf
Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls:
Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation. Habakkuk 3: 17,18
It's Thanksgiving time again. I know it because everyone is talking about it. If I were to write a list of the things I'm thankful for, I'd put down all the good things of life, like a loving marriage, great children, and our growth this year in the Lord.
But as I look over my list, I wonder about the difficult things of the year. Should that be on the list too? Our Lord clearly reveals in His Word that we are to be thankful and grateful for all things.
My list does not include come suffering I had this year, yet in order for my patience to grow (the Epistle of James tell us), I need problems, pain, and suffering. My list includes none of the past months' disappointments, yet it was exactly when my disappointment was greatest that Jesus was especially close and comforting to me.
It is not easy to make out a pain and disappointment list and then be thankful over it, yet he Old Testament prophet did such a thing (see Habbakkuk 3:17-18).
The secret is in the fact that he did not make up his list of praise and thanksgiving by how he felt emotionally. He made it a matter of will. He, like the Psalmist says, "I will praise." That's Thanksgiving!
I am going to make a new list!
From A Gentle Spirit
Devotional Selections for Today's Christian Woman
Joyce Landorf
Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls:
Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation. Habakkuk 3: 17,18
It's Thanksgiving time again. I know it because everyone is talking about it. If I were to write a list of the things I'm thankful for, I'd put down all the good things of life, like a loving marriage, great children, and our growth this year in the Lord.
But as I look over my list, I wonder about the difficult things of the year. Should that be on the list too? Our Lord clearly reveals in His Word that we are to be thankful and grateful for all things.
My list does not include come suffering I had this year, yet in order for my patience to grow (the Epistle of James tell us), I need problems, pain, and suffering. My list includes none of the past months' disappointments, yet it was exactly when my disappointment was greatest that Jesus was especially close and comforting to me.
It is not easy to make out a pain and disappointment list and then be thankful over it, yet he Old Testament prophet did such a thing (see Habbakkuk 3:17-18).
The secret is in the fact that he did not make up his list of praise and thanksgiving by how he felt emotionally. He made it a matter of will. He, like the Psalmist says, "I will praise." That's Thanksgiving!
I am going to make a new list!
From A Gentle Spirit
Devotional Selections for Today's Christian Woman