Give Thanks.

       Thanksgiving is this week. The holiday is centered around thankfulness. It is a time when we give thanks to God for everything he has given to us. I am so incredibly thankful for what he has blessed me with. He has given me the chance to go to Peru twice, and to get to go to Costa Rica and Belize next summer to do his work. He has given me wonderful friends, a roof over my head, and many other things. I know for a fact that I am a favored child of God. He has blessed me so much. 

       Sometimes however, I don't feel as thankful as I should. Instead of thanking God I question him. I wonder why certain things happen to me. I don't appreciate the things he has given me. I want to do things my way instead of his way. I wonder why he has placed me in the position that I am in. I wonder why he stuck me where I am. I wonder why things don't turn out how I feel like they should. I wonder why I feel so trapped. I don't understand why I feel so heartbroken. 

       "Why" is a stupid question. "Why" gets in the way of everything. "Why" forces us to dwell on the things we can't control. "Why" lets the devil in. When we ask "Why" we start to doubt. We doubt God's love for us. We doubt that he cares about us. Instead of asking "Why" we need to ask "What's next?" God has a plan. His plan is so incredibly perfect that we can't comprehend its greatness. God is great and perfect, so his plans are great and perfect. He knows what's best when we don't. 

       Even in the hard times we should thank God. We should thank God for every breath we breathe in. We should thank God for every sunrise we wake up to. We should thank God for every day that we live, because it could very well be our last. No matter how bad things get, God is with us every step of the way. He loves us so much that he wants to be with us. We are his children. No matter what we do, he will still love us. 

       So I am thankful for the oxygen in my lungs. I am thankful that I can sing praises to my wonderful God. I am thankful that he gives me hope. I am thankful that he lets me keep waking up. I am thankful that I can live in a place where I can freely worship him. I am thankful that I am safe. I am thankful that I have been set free. I am thankful that my God will hold me in his arms when I just need to cry. I am thankful that when things get tough he will carry me. I am thankful that he leads me every step of the way. When things fall apart, my God is the only thing holding me together, and for that I give thanks. 

I will give thanks to the LORD because of his righteousness and will sing praise to the name of the LORD Most High. (Psalm 7:17)

Meeting the Finish Line.

       My uncle died a few days ago. I didn't know him very well, but sitting in his funeral today I learned alot about what he was like from people who did know him. He loved life. He loved to laugh. The people who knew loved him to no end. I felt like I was the outsider and they were his family. His funeral wasn't sad. He didn't want it to be. He wanted it to be a celebration. It's like running a marathon and finally making it to the finish line. You celebrate when you complete the race. 

       Some races are harder than others. In some cases people speed through the race without a care in the world and make it there first. They live life purely for enjoyment, even if what they are doing isn't right. They want to get the most out of life, but to do that they take the wrong path. They take a shortcut and then their race is over sooner. They take the easy path of parties, drunkenness, and many other things so that they can have the most "fun" possible. This shortcut has long-term effects that bring them to the finish line way sooner than they would like. Their race is over, and they can't change it.

      Others start their race and get lost. They accidentally turn on a path that goes through forests of thorns. They don't understand why their path is so hard to go by. They blame God for their tough path. They don't see that at the end of their path is life. They don't see God's beauty in the hard, ugly times. They go down the path for a while and find a broad path that seems to be filled with flowers and sunshine. It looks good compared to the path that they have been going by for so long. They see others going down this new path and they seem to be so happy. After being on the path of thorns for so long, these people take off running down the broad path. This path is the same shortcut that the other people took. This path leads to CERTAIN DESTRUCTION. 

       Others find themselves on a path that has a few thorns, but they find that there is someone on that path to help them. That person is Jesus. Sure there are thorns along the path from time to time, but with their new found running partner, they can work through them and trust that fighting through the thorns will only strengthen them. They can see the beauty in all things. They know that all things will work out. They know that when they arrive at the finish line, they will be rewarded, and the reward will be great. They not only completed the race, but they won the race. They may not have finished first and there were some struggles along the way, but the reward is great. 

       We need to stay on the path that leads to righteousness. We need to trust God during all of the hard times. He will take care of us. We need to help others find the right path and help them work through the thorns. We need to be able to meet the finish line and have pride in the way our race has been run. So let's run the race, and have it glorify our wonderful father.

He restores my soul;
He leads me in the paths of righteousness
For His name’s sake. Psalm 23:3