Happy Thanks-Living

We here in Thousand Oaks and surrounding cities are still trying to emerge from a time like never before. I can safely say this, having lived here for the last 55 years. We’ve had earthquakes, some fires, rarely any gun violence, minimal crimes that have ever made the TV news, but definitely never what hit us this past week.

We’re consistently listed in the nation’s top three of the safest cities of our size. Frequently, we’re number one. Then, suddenly the events beginning with a 24-hour period, and continuing over the ensuing days, put us in the national, even global, headlines; a mass shooting followed by devastating fires. Uncharted territory, to say the least.
As of this writing, this week, there are the funerals for the shooting victims. Sheriff’s Sergeant Ron Helus’ memorial service is in progress as I type. People are counting their losses. But, many are counting their blessings. Even those with great incalculable loss are adding up the things for which they now thank God.

These circumstances give a perspective like nothing else can. I heard this from a couple in our church who had lost their home and their earthly possessions. Assuming they would be returning post-evacuation, they took only important essentials. The rest was lost—consumed in the flames. Though the loss is real, there is a freedom they expressed in gaining clarity concerning what really matters.

People might ask during such times, “Why does God cause things like this?” I don’t believe He causes these things, but I believe He can use them to help us gain clarity concerning what really matters. More than that, He can return us to a place of (excuse the expression) being “on fire” for Him when the fire may have have nearly gone out. In fact, tragedy can fan into flame, or extinguish, our fire for God. It’s up to us.

In Revelation we see a church of people to whom Jesus wrote a letter and their fire for Him was barely smoldering. Jesus put it this way to the church at Sardis,

“…‘I know your deeds, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead. ‘Wake up, and strengthen the things that remain, which were about to die; for I have not found your deeds completed in the sight of My God’” (Rev. 3:1-2).

In other words, “Fan the flame of your faith until it burns brightly!”

This Thanksgiving season may serve as a good time to begin the process of spiritual resuscitation. In fact, it is one of the best times to refocus on God and all He has done. For some, it may be difficult to take your spiritual pulse as you recuperate from all the recent trauma and begin to hunker down for the onslaught of holiday distractions, responsibilities and preparations. But, this season, why not start on the right foot by doing what the next holiday is called: Thanks-giving. Use it as a verb. In fact, make it a lifestyle. Call it, “Thanks-living!” Live a life of gratitude.

The conscious giving of thanks can begin to fan your flame into a raging fire for Jesus; a fire that does not destroy, but that brings hope to you and those who have been through tough times. Thanks-giving can return what calamity might have stolen and reminds us we serve a good, giving God.

Don’t let the flame of faith go out. Joe Stowell, of Moody Bible Institute, relates a story about the Greeks, who had a race in their Olympic games that was quite unique:

“The winner was not the runner who finished first. It was the runner who finished with his torch still lit. I want to run all the way with the flame of my torch still lit for Him.” (J. Stowell, Fan The Flame, Moody, 1986, p. 32)

Abraham Lincoln declared that “the last Thursday of November” should be observed as, “a day of Thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father Who dwelleth in the heavens.” The date was October 3, 1863, right in the middle of the worst, most unimaginable circumstances in which a president could find himself, a country at war—with itself! In the midst of the horrific Civil War, Lincoln saw it as a priority to set aside time to show gratitude to God.

Sometimes, the worse the circumstances, the better the time to remind ourselves how good God is. When there is loss, it is often a good time to be reminded of what we can’t lose in Christ. The best response is to give thanks. The best life is to live thanks. Happy thanks-living.

“Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name” – PSALM 100:4 NASB