In just four days, we Americans will once again celebrate Thanksgiving!
Yet, the real question for us is, “What does Thanksgiving really mean?”
I ask that because I think we have all seen THANKSGIVING morph into something that it didn’t originally start out as.
-Which is common for most things in America…
• Of course, for the majority of us, Thanksgiving is all about the preparation and consumption of huge quantities of food. I love that part! No other pretense – it’s just all about the feast! ☺ Yum!!!
• There is another part that Angela loves though… She loves to start her day off with the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, as she begins her preparations for the meal. So, Thanksgiving has also been marked by watching parades in the morning...
• Then, my father-in-law – and most guys – get charged up about the afternoon TV schedule. FOOTBALL is on the agenda!
• However, it isn’t just TV or food that clouds our perception of this day… Thanksgiving has been over looked again by businesses! It has become simply a time to really kick off the Christmas season - specifically, shopping! Hence, Black Friday which starts earlier and earlier every year. This year, Wal-Mart even had PRE-Black Friday deals, that started on Friday.
Now…none of those activities have anything to do with Thanksgiving.
Yet, they have just been added into our traditions and they can make our day more special and relaxing for us.
-Which isn’t necessarily wrong.
-But because of them, we can easily over look the value of this day if we aren’t cautious…
→And that purpose is to be THANKFUL!!!
ILLUSTRATION:
President Abraham Lincoln’s intention, when he made this a legal holiday, was to set aside time to “give thanks and praise to our benevolent Father who dwells in the Heavens.”
→And that my friends, is what we cannot miss!
-We cannot miss an opportunity to GIVE GOD THANKS FOR ALL HIS ABUNDANT BLESSINGS!
*In the good times, and even in the bad, we need to THANK THE LORD ANYWAYS!
Now… As most of us know, our Thanksgiving holiday traces its origins from a 1621 celebration at the Plymouth Plantation, where the Plymouth settlers held a harvest feast after a successful growing season.
-It is this event that is generally referred to as the “First Thanksgiving” and where we model our Thanksgiving feats today…
What is interesting is that the “First Thanksgiving” followed a very terrible time for the Pilgrims…
-The Pilgrims came to this new land in November 1620. And if anyone knows New England in the Winter, you know that it is not the best time to try to setup a new
colony! It was obviously a very hard time to find any kind of food or to find shelter.
-Because of that, by the time Spring arrived, half of them had died through the harsh winter…
Yet, they forged ahead and soon learned how to plant crops and how to trap animals.
-Then, by the time Fall came, the Pilgrims were able to get a good harvest, which led to that “First Thanksgiving” as they THANKED GOD for His benevolence and
provision!
From that thought, I want us to see something in them, that we need to have ourselves – THANKFULNESS!
→That in spite of their difficulties they THANKED THE LORD ANYWAYS!!!
That is just the kind of attitude that God wants to develop in you and me! To…
“THANK THE LORD ANYWAYS!”
Big Idea: True Thanksgiving reveals Supernatural Power in your life!!
STAND & READ - Habakkuk 3:17-19
Though the fig tree should not blossom and there be no fruit on the vines, Though the yield of the olive should fail and the fields produce no food, Though the flock should be cut off from the fold and there be no cattle in the stalls, Yet I will exult in the Lord, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength, and He has made my feet like hinds' feet, and makes me walk on my high places.
PRAYER!
INTRODUCTION:
Now, in a sermon before Thanksgiving, it could be expected to hear from verses in the Bible like…
I Thessalonians 5:18 that tells us, “in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
And for as much as it may seem cliché to hear that once again - it is still surprisingly applicable!
-Maybe more than we would like to admit.
-But, being THANKFUL in all situations is a challenge for all of us!
ILLUSTRATION:
Real life example…
We just bought our house. Had all the inspections and we expected to not have any issues for a little while with anything…
Yet, my furnace has continually broke down… Three times I have had the repair man over and it always seems to be another thing.
-Needless to say, I am NOT feeling very thankful at all!
→Yet God has written in His word, that I need to THANK THE LORD ANYWAYS!
-To which I reply, “Really!?” ☺
But God’s Word is God’s Word! There are no options, so we must obey it…
→And I have to learn to THANK THE LORD ANYWAYS!!!
I wonder…
That must have been how the Pilgrims must have felt in that first year.
-Expecting freedom and that things would get better for them…
-Yet, disappointments and loss were exacted upon them…
→But they chose to THANK THE LORD ANYWAYS!!!
• But their experiences...
• Mine with my furnace…
• And yours with the variety of things you face day to day…
Each of them prove to us that DISAPPOINTMENTS ARE INEVITABLE, BUT DISCOURAGEMENT IS A CHOICE!!
→So is THANKSGIVING - IT IS A CHOICE!
This is exactly what we learn here in the book of Habakkuk…
The prophet decided to do the very same thing we are hearing here – to THANK THE LORD ANYWAYS!
So in this, we come to know Habakkuk as the prophet who vowed to be THANKFUL in hard times.
-He loved and trusted God enough to thank Him in distress.
-Therefore, modeling for us an attitude that THANKS THE LORD ANYWAYS!
• Tell me, who here needs to learn to be thankful this morning?
• Who needs to get a grip on choosing to be thankful instead of remorseful or discouraged?
I Thessalonians 5:18 says, “in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus!”
The BIG QUESTION is…”How can one be thankful when things are difficult??”
Well, let’s try to figure this out together by looking into the Scriptures…
Habakkuk begins to give us a glimpse of the secret to THANKSFULNESS when he talks about…
POINT ONE: A LACK OF PROVISION
Now, keep in mind that…
→When the provision of God changes – we need to be THANKFUL that God is unchanging!
Habakkuk 3:17 – Though the fig tree should not blossom and there be no fruit on the vines, thought the yield of the olive should fail and the fields produce no food, though the flock should be cut off from the fold and there be no cattle in the stalls…
Wow! There isn’t much encouragement or hope described here in this verse…
-But to sum it up… NOTHING seems to be going in a positive direction – only in the bad!
• Let me ask you, have you ever had “one of those days?”
• For some, maybe it has been a week, a month, a year or even years for you?
Needless to say, you might be able to identify with the feelings of loss and that nothing has been going right for you…
Yet, we are reminded of I Thessalonians 5:18 again that says, “in everything give thanks!”
-And we are stunned at the command in such circumstances…
-And we are challenged in our faith by it once again…
It doesn’t seem to be fitting for the circumstance.
It doesn’t feel right or make sense considering what you are facing.
→But you need to understand that Habakkuk felt this way too!
Habakkuk envisions losing things vital to the economy of the nation of Judah…
-The fig tree will not blossom.
-There will be no fruit on the vines.
-Their olive trees won’t produce olives.
-The field can’t yield any harvest.
-Even the cattle and the sheep are lost.
This is a dismal picture – especially considering that God was bringing judgment upon the Nation…
→Yet, the Prophet chooses to say that he will THANK THE LORD ANYWAYS!
-That is a good word for you and me in our day too!!!
-In spite of what he was experiencing!
Today. People are all riled up about the economy and health care issues…
We are mad about so many things happening in our Nation…
-We get mad and start ranting – making sure everyone knows how we feel.
-When, instead, what we need to do is THANK THE LORD ANYWAYS!!!
• Can we do that for a moment?
Let’s thank the Lord that HE is our provider and our sustainer!
He is our Jehovah-Jireh!!
The truth is… Economic conditions will change all the time.
-They changed in Egypt… You will remember that there were seven poor years after the seven rich years.
-They changed for Job… Remember that he lost his all his family and wealth.
-They changed for the Prophet, Elijah… Remembering from when he was sustained by a river with food from a raven and then the river dried up, then God
prepared a widow to provide for him…
-They changed during the years of the Great Depression… After the roaring 20’s, it all came to a screeching hault in 1929 with the stock market crash.
*We have had our own “crash” in recent years in America and around the world too…
-On a more personal level, your economic conditions can even change if you loose your health or if you make bad decision or investments.
*Yet, the Psalmist says, “the name of the Lord is to be praised!!”
Church, with everything that can change from one extreme to the other in our world there really is nothing we can cling to other than God!
-In fact, I would encourage you today to take refuge in the fact that GOD DOESN’T CHANGE!!!
Malachi 3:6 – “For I, the Lord, do not change…”
In this is a key for us to learn about being THANKFUL!
That we should THANK THE LORD ANYWAYS because God is always the same - in spite of when our provision changes – because God never changes!
-And His heart towards you has never changed either!
So…THANK THE LORD ANYWAYS!!!
Another time we can THANK the Lord is when we are in…
POINT TWO: A LOT OF PAIN
Remember this…
→When you are in a lot of pain or are suffering - be thankful for His salvation!
Habakkuk 3:18 – Yet I will exult in the Lord, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation.
More than we would ever like to admit…
The truth is that we are never far from problems in this life.
-Everything about us is fragile…
-Not just our finances, but even LIFE is fragile and uncertain!
*You are never guaranteed a tomorrow.
*And we never know what the next moment holds for us.
The only confidence we have…
→And the only stabilizing force we have in this world to hold us is our God!
ILLUSTRATION:
Bill Gaither wrote the words to a song in a time in his life when he and Gloria were about to have a child. Gloria was so overwhelmed with her thoughts of this world and how horrible it is – and to raise a child in it would be so concerning as she considered their baby’s future.
Then, these words came that filled them with hope and peace…
“Because He lives, I can face tomorrow. Because He lives, all fear is gone. Because I know, I know He holds the future. And life is worth the living, just because He lives.”
-30 plus years have passed since those words came for that song…
-And the world has seemingly gotten a lot worse…
-But the fact remains that Jesus still lives! He holds our future in His hands and our salvation is secure in Him!
→Church, when you are suffering a lot of pain in your life, you can THANK THE LORD ANYWAYS!
-You can THANK THE LORD ANYWAYS because He lives!
-And because He lives, we know that our salvation is sure and real!!
With all the pain and suffering that was surrounding the Nation of Judah…
-Regardless of the captivity they were about to find themselves in…
-Habakkuk chose to THANK THE LORD ANYWAYS!
*He said, “YET! I will exult the Lord! I will rejoice in the God of my salvation!”
That is what he does do, but take note of what Habakkuk did NOT do…
#1 – He did NOT lash out at God in anger. Blaming Him for the pains they were experiencing…
#2 – He did NOT pretend that evil didn’t happen. Avoiding it by staying busy with other distractions…
#3 – And he did NOT just try to “keep up the faith.” Trying to hold on superficially like we are so tempted to do and put on a happy face…
No…
You see, Habakkuk didn’t just foresee the possibility of loosing everything.
He knew the certainty of it! It was going to happen!
I John 2 says that “the earth and its desires are passing away…”
-And that was okay for Habakkuk, and it should be for us too!
• How can I say that?
The reason we can say that is okay is because Habakkuk’s hope and faith wasn’t based on anything in this world to begin with!
Habakkuk’s hope and faith were founded solely upon the Lord, the God of His salvation!!!
-And when we have our priorities straight like that, then trusting in the God of our salvation is all that will matter!
-Because He lives, I can truly face whatever tomorrow may bring!
So when you are facing a lot of pain, keep your eyes on the God of your salvation!
And remember that your life has nothing to do with this temporary one that is but a vapor, according to James 4.
→But it does have everything to do with what Salvation provides – our ETERNAL LIFE!
-In salvation, eternal live is promised to us!
Hear the Word of the Lord!
John 3:16 - …that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
I John 5:13 - These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.
Remember that we are not limited to these few years of tears here on earth.
We who have salvation have Heaven, and eternal life, ahead of us!
So, let’s THANK THE LORD ANYWAYS!!!
When we begin to put this into practice, we will find we have…
POINT THREE: A LIFE OF POWER
Hold onto this truth…
→When you are passing through trials, yet you THANK THE LORD ANYWAYS, you will always triumph in Christ!
We see it here in…
Habakkuk 3:19 – The Lord is my strength, and He has made my feet like hinds’ feet, and makes me walk on my highest places.
Habakkuk found that God is your strength and stability when you THANK THE LORD ANYWAYS!
Isaiah tried to help us to see the similar thing when he wrote, “Yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary.”
Both attest to this one fact…
→There is something Supernatural that takes place in the Spirit realm when we stand upon the Word and trust in God.
-He makes the impossible POSSIBLE!
-He is able to SUSTAIN you when you have come to an end of your own strength!
-In fact, God can take you higher than you ever expected because of His power and strength in you!
Habakkuk experienced just that when he began to tap into the strength of the Lord!
- This is what Habakkuk said, “The Lord God is my strength!”
-And we have got to come to that conclusion in our lives as well – as we abandon all other options for survival…
To not just PROFESS but LIVE like the Lord is our strength!
-And when we do that, we can also experience what Isaiah talked about, and what Habakkuk spoke of too…
-Supernaturally, God does a big work in you!!!
For Habakkuk he describes that Supernatural work like this…
It’s very interesting that he said God “made his feet like hind’s feet, and makes me walk on my high places.”
-God gave him the ability to walk on the high places, which normally would have tripped him up and knocked him down…
-He made his feet like “hind’s feet” – meaning that he was swift and graceful in those treacherous places!
ILLUSTRATION:
Hunting with Alex, and following a deer path…
They bounce right through with no troubles at all. Yet, when I went through, I was getting hung up and even slipped in a few areas on the trail.
-The issue is not that the deer has more power to walk than I do… I do pretty well outside of those circumstances. ☺
-But the real difference is in the feet of the one going through the trail.
-God DESIGNED a deer’s feet to go through that specific kind of terrain…
Hear me friends…
In the natural, our design doesn’t work so well to tread the terrain of LACK and PAIN.
But! When we come to the Lord for His strength and begin to THANK THE LORD ANYWAYS, God begins to transform us so that we can run through the treacherous trails with ease and live in His POWER!!
-Then, we mount up with wings like eagles…
-And our feet are made like hinds feet so we can walk on high places!!!
When we are THANKFUL, God will give you the ability to walk on high places – on HIGHER GROUND!
-In those more difficult places, but yet where you have to go sometimes in the battles of life.
-And while you might not be up for the battle in the heights, God is ALWAYS up for the occasion!
So, let’s just THANK THE LORD ANYWAYS! He is with us in the battle!
He is good and faithful to enable us to walk through all the troubles that we might face and to live LIFE WITH POWER!!
-Live your life with His power!
AS WE CLOSE:
Choosing to THANK THE LORD ANYWAYS gives us the ability to find that we can truly “do all things through Him who strengthens us!” –Philippians 4:13
-To walk through the junk of life, and to do it with ease!
So, let me ask you today…
• Are you able to say THANK THE LORD ANYWAYS in the bad times?!
I know it doesn’t always come easy, but it must come!
I Thessalonians 5:18 that tells us, “in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
-It is a command that works and makes a difference in every life!!!
ILLUSTRATION:
University psychologists recently conducted a research project on gratitude and thanksgiving…
They divided participants into three groups. The people in the first group practiced daily exercises like writing in a gratitude journal. They reported higher levels of alertness, determination, optimism, energy, and less depression and stress than the others in the control group.
Unsurprisingly, they were also a lot happier than the participants who were told to keep an account of all the bad things that happened each day.
At the end of the case study, one of the psychologists concluded that though a practice of gratitude is a key to most religions, its benefits extend to the general population, regardless of faith or no faith. He suggested that anyone can increase his sense of well-being just from counting his blessings.
Church, from reading God’s Word we know that THANKSGIVING does more than just increase our well-being – it changes our lives!
-It changed Habakkuk’s heart and situation…
-And it can change ours as well…
So therefore, let’s make our Thanksgiving more than eating, football and shopping this year!
Let’s decide this Thanksgiving, and ALWAYS, to THANK THE LORD ANYWAYS!
Let’s THANK THE LORD ANYWAYS!
If you are in a tough time, be more fervent this morning in your THANKS!
ALTAR CALL:
Salvation…
To see our God in the midst of our lack and pain.
To gain more sure-footing in our lives by being THANKFUL!!!
