Over the
next several weeks I will probably eat too much. The food will be delicious,
and the leftovers will be as good as the original dishes. My plate will be
cleaned so well you would think it had never been used. I’ll thank God for each
meal and each morsel.
Somewhere at
some time throughout these holy days, I’ll try to remember not everyone will be
enjoying the bounty I’ll have in front of me. There will be people who will
wake up hungry and go to bed the same way. If they have one meal of beans or
rice during the day, they will feel most fortunate. Others will not have that
much and will look at their swollen bellies and those of their children and
wonder about a thing called hope.
In those
moments I’ll think of the bounty I enjoy and of the ways I can help others who
have less or nothing at all. I will utter a prayer that they will be filled and
find a way to be a part of the answer. I hope I will be so thankful for what I
have I will find a way to make sure they have more than they would have had.
It’s easy to
feel blessed and be grateful when the table is full. It’s easy to look to God
and be thankful when you have enough for leftovers. It’s easy to be thankful
when things are going well in a dozen different ways.
We could use
a few lessons in being grateful when the times are not so good. If we can’t be
grateful, we at least need to learn to keep our eyes focused on our only source
of hope and be glad He is there. Sometimes we need to be reminded the greatest
blessing we have is the relationship we share with God.
A common
translation of Job 13:15 goes like this, “Though he slay me, I will hope in
him.” (NASV) Job laid it all on the line in his blunt argument with a silent
God. He declared his innocence. He wanted God to explain what all this pain and
suffering was about. At the same time he acknowledged he had nowhere else to
go. He was making demands of the only One who could deliver him, the only One
who offered hope.
Job was not
the only one who was able to find hope and thus a reason for gratitude when
things looked rather dim. The prophet Habakkuk ends his brief set of prophecies
with one of the greatest statements of hope grounded in faith in the entire Old
Testament. He declares the barren fig and olive trees, the fruitless vine, the
wasted fields, and the empty livestock stalls will not keep him from
celebrating the relationship he has with God. (Habakkuk 3:17-18)
The finest
example of gratitude that moves beyond circumstances is found in the moment
Jesus can say to his Father, “Not my will, but thine be done.” (Luke 22:42)
Jesus could never be described as thankful for the cross that awaited him. He
could, however, be grateful he was looking to a Father whom he felt had all
things under control. The best would win out.
Job looked to a relationship he believed was present even in the midst of his suffering.
Habakkuk celebrated a relationship that wasn’t measured by material wealth.
Jesus depended upon a relationship that would be there even in his darkest
hour. Though he would face that hour alone, his faith in the relationship he
had with his Father made our gratitude possible.
Be grateful
for a plate full of food. Be grateful for family and friends who share your
table. Be grateful for the One who left heaven to bring us a hope the world can never offer. And go share your gratitude with someone whose heart and
stomach need it.
