“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.” (Ps 106:1 NIV)
Have you ever noticed that it isn’t until you are without something that you begin to appreciate it?
Last fall, just as the weather was turning cold, we had to replace our furnace. The whole procedure took just one week, but during that week, the temperatures dropped to the freezing mark and below. You can believe that the furnace was always on our minds, and were we ever glad when it was back up and running!
Funny thing though. As it ran on automatic day in and day out, leaving our home comfortably warm, we quickly forgot it existed.
Until this fall, that is.
This fall we were having our basement refinished, and all of the furniture, etc. from the work area was stacked around the furnace. About 2 weeks before the work was due to be completed, the temperatures dipped down towards the freezing mark and a cold, misty rain moved in. It didn’t take us long to remember our furnace. We didn’t feel it was safe to turn it on, however, with all our belongings stacked around it, so once again, we spent the first week of cold weather without heat. You can believe that the very day we could, we moved back into the now finished room, and the furnace was working by nightfall.
And it continues to run on automatic, leaving our home comfortably warm, and once again, we have forgotten it even existed.
The windshield wipers on the car are another thing we tend to think nothing about until they stop functioning.
This past summer my family and I were vacationing in southern Switzerland and northern Italy, when suddenly, out of the blue, the windshield wipers of the car we had rented, started swishing their way across the glass. Nothing we could do would make them stop. It was hard enough trying to navigate our way through narrow, twisty, busy roads in a foreign country, without having to worry about windshield wipers swiping across my line of vision every few seconds! How I wished they would stop!
And then they did. About halfway up the windshield. Right in front of my eyes.
Now I didn’t only have to worry about trying to figure out where the street signs were located and how to read them in my non-existent Italian, but I also had to crane my neck around – windshield wipers!
Fortunately it seemed to be a temperature-related glitch in the car, and when the temperatures finally dropped for the evening, the windshield wipers returned to their normal position. Only to start their “dance” all over again the following day when the temperatures again soared.
We were happy enough to leave that hot section of Switzerland behind and head north, where our windshield wipers were content to stay in their place until we needed them!
I’m sorry to say, however, that we then promptly forgot they existed.
Think about it. How many things do you take for granted each and every day? How many of you, for example, take the time to thank the electric company for pumping electricity into your home? I suspect that unless the power goes out, you don’t give it much thought at all!
And what about the car in the garage? I don’t see too many people showing their cars appreciation. But I certainly do hear about it when the car won’t start!
And what about your spouse? Your kids? Your parents? Do you think much about them? Do you really appreciate who they are and what they do?
And most importantly, what about God? How quick we are to run to Him only when there’s a problem. We tend to get so wrapped up in worrying about what we don’t have, that we forget to be thankful for what God has given us!
I have a good friend. She lives in the inner city where she is trying to raise 5 kids with no income. There are many days when her teenage boys don’t have enough food to eat, days when she, herself, goes without so that the boys can eat. But there is never a word of complaint. Instead, she praises God that they have a roof over their heads and that they aren’t starving to death! What a powerful sermon this dear woman preaches to me each and every time I talk to her!
Today is Thanksgiving Day in the United States, a day set aside to thank God for the blessings He has bestowed upon us. It’s a great holiday, founded on fabulous principles. But how many of us spend this day in thanksgiving? Sadly, so many in North America spend the day worrying about whether or not the turkey will be done to perfection, whether the guest list is right, and what kind of pies are in the fridge.
Friends, let’s make today a different kind of Thanksgiving. Let’s spend the day truly thanking God for the blessings He bestows upon us each and every day. Let’s truly appreciate what we have, and stop complaining about what we don’t have.
And while you’re it, why not take a moment to think about your spouse, your kids, your families and your friends? Instead of complaining that your son doesn’t pick up his clothes, thank him for what he does do. Instead of criticizing your spouse for working late hours, thank him or her for making sure there is always bread on the table.
And as you do, you will truly enjoy the blessings of this Thanksgiving day!
In His love,
Lyn
Lyn Chaffart, Mother of two teens, Author and Moderator for The Nugget, a tri-weekly internet newsletter, and Scriptural Nuggets, a website devoted to Christian devotionals and inspirational poems, www.scripturalnuggets.org , with Answers2Prayer Ministries, www.Answers2Prayer.org .