Thanks is the doorway of God to reveal His purposes.

1Thessalonians 5:18 (NKJV)

¹⁸ in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

What is thanksgiving? Is it a feeling? Is it an emotion? Is it something we do because we should? What does it accomplish? What is its power over evil?

True thanksgiving is the power in the human heart to get past the fiery trial, to set aside difficulty and look past the things that anger and upset us.

True thanksgiving leads all of us to look to the One who made us. To call out to Him in faith thanking Him for those things. 

Romans 8:28 (NKJV) says:

²⁸ And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. 

The hard things. The impossible things. The crazy things that happen to you. Thanks is the doorway of God to reveal His purposes. Giving thanks shapes you into a true disciple of His. Thanks trusts always, hopes always, looks to the one who works all things together for good. Thanks is the vote of confidence in God. When we thank Him even in the midst of the fiery trial, we are saying we accept His will and all that comes with it. We trust He will work in us. We trust that He is able. We trust He will teach us. We trust that His Word is truth.

Psalm 30:5 (NKJV)

⁵ For His anger is but for a moment,
His favor is for life;
Weeping may endure for a night,
But joy comes in the morning.

On this Thanksgiving Day, we have lots of things that are easy to give thanks for. Healthy children, food and shelter, warm clothes on our back and good friends.  The hard things are hard to give thanks for. Give the difficult things to Him today and thank Him for taking them and transforming you today. Jesus is waiting.

The Parable of the Trunk and the Children

A man had gone away to war and  had been gone from his family many years. His children were young and knew very little of him before he left but still they wondered about their father. One day while exploring the attic the children found a large trunk. They started to rumble through the trunk and realized all items in it belonged to their father. 

One child found an old hat. It looked like a hat that a farmer wore. She mused "Daddy must have been a farmer!" The others all looked in amazement at the hat. 

Another child spoke up. "I saw a coach driver with that same hat. Daddy must have been a coach driver!" Each child had their own theories.

The youngest there found a sword. He got very excited! "Wow! Daddy must have been a knight! I can just see him now! Riding into battle fearlessly! Slaying the enemies of the kingdom!"

This went on for hours. Each new treasure brought more questions and more conjectures. Each child had an image of who their father was.

After hours of the kids being absent from her sight, the mother began to look for her children. She found them still in the attic, digging through the trunk. 

"What are you children doing up here! She asked. 

We are looking through daddies things and trying to figure out what he is like. We can barely remember what he looks like, but we want to know! Can you please tell us. So beginning with the hat and going through each item in the chest, the mother explained the wonder and the depth of the father. The children wept for joy to understand how wonderful their father was and how much he loved each of them. Each child was given an item from the trunk that the father had instructed the mother to give just for them.

Later that evening a man showed up at the door. It was a man who knew  their father very intimately. He said that his friend, their father had instructed him to teach them important things that he wanted them to know. He sat down with them and instructed them from the beginning to the end all that they needed to know to mature and be like their father.

Who do you think these people people and things represent?

The children

The father

The mother

The trunk

The friend