It's Thanksgiving, and I'm thankful, but I'm not sure why.
I feel thankful. I feel thankful that I have a warm car to drive in. I feel thankful that I have a home to drive to, and I feel thankful that I have family and friends surrounding me to see every time I open a door. No matter where I turn, or what I do, I'll always be able to find someone to support me, and I wouldn't trade that for the world. It's definitely something to be thankful for, but in reality, why I am thankful? Am I thankful for what I have been blessed with or am I thankful that I'm not in someone else's shoes- someone else's shoes who might not have shoes, someone who is in need.
I’m not the young man sitting on the corner holding a sign that says, “I take smiles.” I’m not the girl that’s been abused so many times that she can’t even look a stranger in the eye. I’m not the man trying to take care of his young daughter day by day always trying to find somewhere safe to sleep. By comparison, I’m thankful because I’m not in any of these positions.
I have friends. I have family. I have food, clothes and shelter. I'm blessed beyond measure. “Look how much God has blessed me,” I think to myself.
I have become thankful from comparison rather than from compassion. The moment I start to compare myself to others, I begin to feel boastful or “better than."
Jesus was totally the opposite. Jesus “felt compassion on the crowds” when he saw them. He didn’t say, “I sure am thankful I have these five loaves of bread and two fish . . . sorry bout ya’ll.” He empathized with people and served them.
“When we are in the presence of others who are better, we become discontent, yet when we are in the presence of God, even our minds will find gratitude.”
When we dwell on God, we switch from feeling inadequate to feeling gratitude and thanksgiving. We don’t begin to compare ourselves to God, but we, in our smallness, begin to wonder that God would even care for us in our smallness, and we can certainly take joy in that.
Why are you thankful this Thanksgiving?
-Cliff
Cliff's Note: Be thankful that in our smallness, God has taken care of us in His bigness.