Being Thankful

It’s a matter of perspective.

 

 

Somewhere in time, this Thursday, America celebrates Thanksgiving.  The pilgrims gave thanks for surviving the winter. They gave thanks for food, shelter and health.  After the battle of Gettysburg, during the Civil War, President Lincoln established the Federal Holiday to celebrate Thanksgiving.

I love having a holiday to remind us to give thanks, but I have been thinking about that.  What we are thankful for is a matter of perspective.

If we only have one pair of shoes and they are tattered and torn, we may not be thankful for them until we have no shoes at all.

If we have a job that is a daily drudge, we may not be thankful until we suffer the loss of that income.

If our home needs work, or it’s too small, or it’s not in the location we want; we may not be thankful for it until we are homeless.

I was watching a documentary about Corrie Ten Boom, one of my hero’s in the faith.  She and her entire family were arrested in World War II for hiding Jews from the occupying Nazi’s. She and her sister were together. One of the prison camps they ended up in was Ravensbruck.  It was notorious as one of the worst. They were placed in a barracks that had twice the women it was designed to hold. It was filthy and filled with lice and fleas.

They found out, however, that the guards would barely set foot in their barracks because they did not want to be infected by the lice and fleas.  The two sisters were thankful they could openly share from their small Bible and pray with the other prisoners.

What are you thankful for today?

1 Thessalonians 5:18New King James Version (NKJV)

¹⁸ in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.