More Than A Feeling

A Simple Thanksgiving Thought

Today is Thanksgiving (and chances are you’re humming a particular Boston song after reading the title of this post). Thanksgiving is a day devoted to increased caloric intake, watching football games, time with family and friends, and hopefully in there somewhere…a nap (and after the nap, some more leftovers). Individuals and families alike have rituals and traditions around this holiday.

Photo by Matt Jones on Unsplash

As we approach today, regardless of what your plans may be, I want to encourage readers with a simple Thanksgiving thought. It is rooted in Psalm 107:1

“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his faithful love endures forever.”

(Psalm 107:1, CSB)

Did you see it? Sometimes it’s so familiar that we miss the focus and emphasis. Here is the simple thought:

GIVE THANKS.

It doesn’t say feel thankful or even think thankful.

Scripture calls God’s people to GIVE THANKS.

THANKFULNESS IS MORE THAN A FEELING.

All too often, we wait to feel thankful before we express our thanks. This is true in expressing thanks to others as well as to God. But I continue to learn that my feelings tend to follow my focus. The things that consume my thoughts and attention in life help form my feelings.

That’s why the call in the Psalms (you can find it over and over) is for us to GIVE THANKS.

And note the cause for the call to express thankfulness to God: He is good.

The Psalmist doesn’t leave room for our thankfulness to be filtered through our circumstances. Thankfulness is expected because of God’s character. He is good.

Maybe life has been challenging lately.

Maybe you are walking through a season of loneliness.

Maybe your hope or your health is in decline.

Maybe someone has hurt you.

None of the circumstances listed above are good.

And that is the point of what the Psalm calls us to do. It is a recognition that even when the stuff in life isn’t good, we are invited to focus on, recognize, and express gratitude to the God who is. When life's circumstances are challenging, this isn’t easy. It’s far from easy. And incase you’re thinking that I am inviting you to deny the reality of the hard things you might be facing and have a “lets pretend to be thankful for ____” session, I’m not. Biblical faith doesn’t ask us to deny the reality of what we might be walking through. But it does call us to fix our focus on a greater reality.

GOD IS GOOD.

Today, I invite each of us to do two things with intentionality and with joy.

Delight deeply.

Delight in the goodness of God. Delight in the friends and family He has given you. Delight in the people that you are with. Be brave enough to set aside the phone, turn off your notifications, and simply delight in the moment that is a gift. Reject the stress and unrealistic expectations that are often attached to holiday moments. Today is a day for delight.

Delight in the food.

Delight in the stories.

Delight in the laughter.

Delight in a nap or a Christmas movie on the couch.

Delight.

Express and verbalize your thanks, don’t just feel it.

The call of Psalm 107 is for us to give. You can feel your feelings, but you can’t give them. What you feel is connected to where you focus. And one of the greatest ways we can begin to cultivate greater levels of gratitude is to express it.

So today…

Say it.

Verbalize it.

Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Tyler