Enter His gates with thanksgiving,
And His courts with praise.
Give thanks to Him; Bless His name.
For the Lord is good;
His lovingkindness is everlasting,
And His faithfulness to all generations.
Psalm 11:4-5
I live in a community called "Ebenezer". It's a word from the Old Testament that means something like "thus far the Lord has helped me". I have always liked the name because it reminds me to look back and recall God's faithfulness not only to me but to previous generations of His people. Because God's character is consistent, the fact that he has helped me "thus far" is guarantee that He will continue to do so. Today, on the day before Thanksgiving, I am considering how His everlasting faithfulness should elicit my thankfulness.
Time travel with me a minute back to the first Thanksgiving. Funny grade school plays and beautiful artwork aside, the reality of that first Thanksgiving was somber. The pilgrims arrived in Plymouth in September of 1620 after a 65 day voyage. Many were already sick and weakened from the voyage. They were too late to build adequate housing before facing the harsh New England winter. If you were one of those fifty or so left standing at the end of your first year in the New Land, then your thanksgiving, though no doubt sincere, would have been mingled with tears. You would have lost half of your companions to death, very likely you would have lost a spouse or a child.
The harvest that first autumn had been exceptional. They would have food the next winter and they had been blessed with friends (Sqauanto and his people) to help them.* There was cause to celebrate and reasons to be thankful, but it was thankfulness in the midst of extreme hardship. Winter was still going to be cold. Their homeland and civilization was still across the ocean, the bodies of cherished loved ones were still going to lie in the crude cemetary. In fact history does tell us that these brave Pilgrims continued to face hardship. The harvests the next two years were much less bountiful. The second Thanksgiving Day, two years later, in fact, came on the heels of a drought-stricken spring and summer when little grew.
My observation is this: I think I tend to reserve my best gratitude to God for those times when I feel like I am "out of the woods". That shouldn't be. I should take a lesson from the Pilgrims and be truly, heartily thankful for God's provision every step of the way. I want to practice a thankfulness that trusts God's goodness and faithfulness even in the midst of difficulties. I also want to remember to be truly thankful for the "basics" of life that I too often take for granted. The pilgrims celebrated because they had food, shelter and friends. I certainly am blessed with an abundance.
*The story of how God brought Squanto, an English speaking Native American, back to the piligrims at their greatest hour of need is a masterpiece of God's goodness and providence and well worth reading. Click the link below and scroll down to "The Story of Squanto" for a quick synopsis from Chuck Colson.
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