The Overlooked Holiday
Louise Duval
MA, LPC, LAC, CAC
11/23/2021
As I think about the holidays celebrated in America, one of the most overlooked seems to be Thanksgiving. However, giving thanks is so important, not just on Thanksgiving, but all throughout the year. In fact, God commands us to give thanks: “Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18) As I read this verse, I began thinking about why it would be God’s will for us to give thanks. God is God and does not need us to be thankful to Him. However, God is also our loving father and His will is always best so if it is His will for us to be thankful, it must be for our good. When we give thanks, it takes our focus off of what we don’t have and puts it on what we do have which can change our perspective. In Philippians 4:6-7, Paul tells us that the way to cope with anxiety and find the peace of God is to present your requests to God, but to do it with thanksgiving. If you continue reading in this passage (Philippians 4:8), we are also told to think about what is true, what is noble, what right, what is pure, what is lovely, what is admirable, what is excellent, and what is praiseworthy.
I think that God gave us the command to be thankful because it helps make life on Earth more bearable. God knows that it is easy for us to get bogged down in the worries of this world, we live in a world full of sin and life is hard, but as we shift our mind to be thankful, we are able to feel peace in the midst of it all. Sometimes it is really hard to be thankful, but you can almost always find SOMETHING to be thankful for, no matter how small. If your life is chaotic because you have to take your kids here and there, be thankful God blessed you with children and that they have talents and skills that allow them to be involved in various activities. When you have a sink full of dishes and more chores than you can ever do, be thankful you have food to eat and a house to live in. If you are recovering from surgery and in pain be thankful that the surgery was available and for the doctors who cared for you. When you ache when you wake up in the morning, be thankful God allowed you to have another day to serve Him. Maybe the reason Thanksgiving leads right into Christmas is because when we take time to “enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise” (Psalm 100:4) our hearts are more prepared to celebrate the greatest gift of all, Emmanuel which means God with us. The God of the universe is in us and walks through life with us. When you realize that, you can’t help but be filled with Thanksgiving. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!