Following our celebrations of Thanksgiving weekend, I have had some further reflections around gratitude and contentment. One of them comes from a broader understanding of the often quoted Scripture, …”in everything give thanks” (I Thessalonians 5:18). It is not that we give thanks for everything, but rather that in everything or in all circumstances we are to give thanks. There are opportunities for giving thanks to God even in the most difficult of times because we know that God is with us. Although we may be struggling, blessings from God are not completely absent. Therefore, we give God thanks. The great uncertainty and stress that has been caused by the Covid pandemic does not mean that we have nothing in this time for which to thank God. For many of us, our Thanksgiving gatherings were much quieter this year. In our cautious decisions for safety sake, we were missing family members that we would usually be with on Thanksgiving. This did not mean that we could not still be thankful and grateful to God. Another insight that came to me around these important matters of gratitude and contentment is that when we are envying what other people have, it will interfere with us being thankful. There is good reason that one of the 10 Commandments is, “You shall not covet (envy) anything that belongs to your neighbour.” (Exodus 20:17) When we covet or envy, it damages both relationship with neighbour and with God. If we are resenting or wishing for what someone else has then the gift of contentment is moving further away from us rather than closer to us. In our Prayer Time this week , we can examine our attitudes before God and ask Him to work in us to transform our outlooks so that we will know an even deeper dimension of the gratitude and contentment that God offers. Although separated by distance, we can be near for our WEDNESDAY PRAYER TOGETHER tomorrow Wednesday, October 14th at 1 pm.
Thank You Father God that this is Your world in which You have placed us. In our looking around us, there are countless reasons to give You thanks for the blessings of this life. Sometimes our God, we hold so tightly to the way we want things to be that we do not enter into what it means to give thanks to You in everything. You really do make it possible to discover new dimensions of gratitude when we find reasons for thanks even when our lives travel a path that is disappointing or painful. Forgive us for placing our plans before your plans. Renew our trust in You and Your wise understanding of how the pattern that You have designed for our lives can result in us knowing you more completely. We have learned over time that sou do work things together for good and we continue to pray to see evidence of this every day. We are praying that You will bring good in ways we could not imagine. We pray that You will heal broken hearts. We come to You now remembering in our prayers those we know who are dealing with health issues. We pray for strength and courage needed when the road of tests and treatments or waiting for surgery is long. We pray for those who find it so hard to see those whom they love facing troubling times.. We pray for those who wonder where you are when life seems unfair. Right now, we hold in our prayers those who have said goodbye to loved ones. We know that this means life is changed forever. Only You our God can bring the comfort that is needed. Please give us the understanding and the love needed to respond and care in ways that will reflect Your comforting Presence and peace. We ask for words that will covey genuine love and compassion. As we see You answering these prayers we are praying, we know that our faith can grow stronger and our desire to give thanks to You in everything can become a more integral part of our lives and experience. And now our God, we need to confront this sin of envy. Each of us have times when we see what someone else has and we want that. It is not always material things. Sometimes it is the blessing of good health or close family, or a cherished relationship with someone special. Sometimes envy comes when we see someone else achieving what we had hoped to achieve. Sometimes envy creeps in where we least expect it. Wherever envy shows up, we name it as sin and know that it is destructive. Please release us from the grip of wanting what we don’t have. Please forgive us for getting so caught up in noticing what others have that we do not notice and give thanks to You for what we do have. We return our Father God to the truth that this is Your world and we belong to You. And though the wrong seems often so strong, God You are still the Ruler. Please rule in our hearts and bring us near to You as we give You thanks and continue to learn necessary lessons about gratitude and contentment. With thanks and anticipation of Your yet unfolding blessings, we offer this prayer in Jesus’ Name, AMEN.