My Unusual Journal 57



My Unusual Journal

My Unusual Journal 57, Thursday, November 24, 2011, 5:37 PM

Giving Thanks to God

I had almost forgotten to write a special Thanksgiving post for this day of thanks giving. It is not because I have forgotten to thank God for all His goodness to me, but because it is a habit, as ingrained as eating, to always thank Him and praise Him for each day and each act of kindness in my behalf and that of my many prayer burdens.

But it’s a good thing to pause at this time and give a special praise to the One who is always doing special things for us. If you are a member of my family or someone who knows me particularly well, you will not be surprised that I am content with being alone on this day. I can read, write, meditate, in short I can do pretty much what I want when I want to do it. I can even look at what I want to see on TV – but first things first – and the reading and writing are of the highest priority at this point in the day.

Pat and I have an unspoken agreement that she can go be with others while I will remain at home (remaining at home is actually not a voluntary decision; it is just part of being older than I ever thought I would be). But I am of a temperament that will not bemoan my solitude but, rather, make it beneficial to me and I hope to others. To this end I want to bring you a short thought on the will of God for each of us individually. This will take only a minute or two:

Discerning the will of God for you is never an automatic thing. It is impossible to determine His will from a set of conditions or from what your personality is or any such imponderables. God’s thinking and His determinations are not so narrowly limited.  

It is true that he does take into account the conditions in which you are at the time. But that is only one of the many variables at which he looks. He also sees what will happen in the future; He knows how what will happen in the present will fit into His overall plan for you. He sees how you can in any way help another soul in need. God sees ahead of time the perils lurking along your pathway to destroy you. There are a thousand and one “what if’s” that He knows are looming large in front of you – and of most of these dangers you are completely unaware.

I am not about to give you some dreary monolog on how to assure that God’s will shall be done in your life. I could, but that is not what God wants at this time. All you need to do is to continue to do whatever you are doing now that pleases Him – only do these things more consistently and with all your heart. Don’t withhold anything you have from Jesus. Don’t love Him or your brother or sister conditionally. Love unconditionally despite what you think are flaws in your spiritual siblings.

And if you are so busy eking out a living that you can’t find time to come before God in prayer and meditation, you had better rearrange your schedule. If necessary take fifteen or twenty minutes from your sleep time. PRAYER IS YOUR LIFELINE; without it you will die spiritually.

See – I told you I wouldn’t take long to make my point. Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

 

Comments

[Marvin Jackson Smith]

Very resonant message elegantly stated, as usual. I am grateful for many things, but your messages are and have always been a truly wonderful blessing.
As with many things in my life, I don't pause long enough to really embrace the blessing of this journal. There have been many times I've been comforted or challenged by your entries--in some...many... ways like reading Scripture itself. That's because you know the Word--and cleave to it-- more fully than anyone I've known.
You know as I read this today your last paragraph really spoke to me. I've spent most of this weekend "eking out a living", to the neglect of many people and practices I cherish. And it seems my prayer and meditation are the first to suffer.
So I thank you, Dad, for these words. And though it sounds odd to say to my father, I thank you mostly as my brother in Christ.

Love
Jack