This week I had to go to the Dentist for a cleaning.  While there, and chatting with some other ladies, I was asked how many children I have.  I responded with, I have five, but one is in heaven.   This opened up the conversation–where I heard another lady tell me she had a child in heaven also, and then others started telling their tragic stories—an eleven year old killed while hunting, a car accident, a disease.   

Why am I recounting this—because tomorrow is Thanksgiving—the day we as individuals, communities, and a nation, give Thanks to God.   It is the time we recognise that God is God—the giver of our blessings, the giver of our lives–but is He also the giver of our trials, and the taker of life?    If so, why would we want to thank Him for that?   

Why would I want to thank Him for taking my son?   Why would others want to thank HIm for their trials, their diseases, the loved ones He has taken?  Why?

Wouldn’t we want to avoid this God, who can take from us our health, our loved ones, our very lives?

That is what many do.  They avoid God—thinking by doing this–that maybe He will forget about them—and they can avoid the pain of life.

Many wonder—how do I get on the good side of this God–so that I will receive good things from HIm?

Others say—it is not God doing these things to us—it is us doing these things to us—-we kill each other, we sinned in the first place–and this brought sin into the world—so now we have diseases, accidents and earthquakes and hurricanes and tornadoes.   God isn’t responsible for those things—we are responsible.

But what does God say?   He tells us quite clearly that He is sovereign over the affairs of men. He tells us that He is on the throne.   He is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.   Yet He also tells us that He has given us free will.  We can choose to sin.  He allows us the consequences of our sin.  If we point a gun at someone else and pull the trigger and shoot–the other person will be shot.  The other person will pay the price for our choice.  

If we choose to drive recklessly, others may pay the price of our choice.  

This King of Kings, and this Lord of Lords—chose to reveal Himself to us—by coming down from heaven, being born of a Virgin, becoming a baby, living life as a humble carpenter, having a three year ministry, where he healed people with diseases, healed the lepers, healed the blind, set people walking again—-He touched the suffering and the downtrodden—-and then He died for us, and as He did so—He forgave those who crucified Him, saying they did not know what they were doing.

Jesus showed us a God who loves us, all of us–deeply—a God who suffers with us—a God who heals us—and He heals not just our bodies—He heals our souls.

He deals with our sin condition—-when He was crucified on the cross—He crucified all our sin on the cross.  We can now experience freedom from choosing to sin. When He rose from the dead, He showed us a God who has power over death—and that He will raise us after death as well.

We are not condemned by Him.  We are not judged by Him.  We are forgiven.

We are forgiven.

We have been given life—for all eternity with Him.  The One who loves us.  The One whose scars show us His heart for us. Our great, powerful God—is humble, gentle and loving. He is near to the brokenhearted. He is near to me. He is near to you.

But He will not force Himself upon us. We each need to choose Him. He says, “Behold I stand at the door and knock.”… Rev. 3:20 Each person has a choice to make—will they let Him in? Will they open the door of their life and let Him in?

I let God in—and so…..

I am thankful!!  I am thankful!!  I am thankful to our God!!

May you be encouraged—during this season of thankfulness.