In North America, the very first Thanksgiving took place when Martin Frobisher was trying to find a shipping route between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans in 1578. In Nunavut, they were hit with intense storms and dangerous ice flows-- so much so that one of their ships sunk and they lost many supplies. After surviving such an ordeal, they camped in Nunavut where a pastor on their ship encouraged them to be thankful "for their strange and miraculous deliverance in those so dangerous places". They were thanking God for protecting them! They then celebrated Communion, thanking Jesus for not only saving them from the storm, but for saving them spiritually-- forgiving them of their sins. What's really cool is that this was the first recorded thanksgiving AND the first recorded celebration of the Lord's Supper in North America...and it happened in Canada! Oh, Canada!
In 1789, Abraham Lincoln said that a day needed to be set aside in the United Stated to express their thankfulness to God. When Thanksgiving became an official holiday in Canada in 1957 it was to have "a day of general thanksgiving to almighty God for the bountiful harvest with which Canada has been blessed." See what I mean? The Thanksgiving holiday was created because government officials believed that a day needed to be set aside to worship and express thanks to God. It was a day when people were encouraged to pray! It was a day when people were encouraged to be a part of church community!
While having a special day set aside for us to be thankful is a really good idea, how many of you actually took time to express thanks on that weekend? Sure, you likely ate a meal with family and had a couple of extra days off school, but did you take the time to list things that you're thankful for? Did you pray, thanking God for everything he's done? Did you sing heartfelt songs of thanks to God when you were at church? Most people would answer "no" to all of those things.
DON'T BE A TURKEY...BE THANKFUL!
1 Thessalonians 5:18 says, "Be thankful in ALL circumstances, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus".
I used to think that verse sounded completely ridiculous! It's saying that if we belong to Jesus (if we've accepted his love and forgiveness and follow him), than what God wants for us is to be thankful ALL OF THE TIME! No matter what!
Really? How can you possibly be thankful when your pet dies or when you fail a test at school?
Well, the reason why the Bible encourages us to be thankful, is because when we focus on only the bad stuff of life- the things that aren't going well, it's easy for that to become the ONLY thing we see! I've seen people complain because they don't have the latest gadgets or clothes, even though their closet is full and they have all kinds of cool tech sitting on the floor of their room! When they focus on the things they don't have...they can't really see all of the things they DO have! When you focus on all of the negative stuff, it might start affecting your attitudes...even your health! You might grumble and complain a lot and seem unhappy to the people around you.
This week, I shared a story about how ironic it was that on Thanksgiving Sunday, while we were on the way to church, our tire exploded. It meant that after church I would have to put a spare tire on it, drive to Canadian Tire to spend hours in the waiting room, AND that we wouldn't be able to visit my family as we had planned. But do you know what? I made a decision not to focus on the negative stuff, but focus on all of the things I have to be thankful for! The worship service was awesome and we got to celebrate God's amazing love for us! Tons of people at the church offered to help me fix the car or get my family home! When I went to the Canadian Tire, I had the chance to talk to the service manager about what I did for a living and invited him to church! AND my in-laws decided to take the full turkey dinner they had cooked, and deliver it to our house so we could still celebrate together! When I focused on all of the amazing ways God and others had blessed me, just on THAT day, how could I grumble and complain about a flat tire?
Have you ever seen videos of people in Africa who live in terrible conditions and have virtually nothing? You might have seen them full of joy-- with huge smiles on their faces! While life isn't perfect for them (and in comparison, we live like Kings and Queens), they are thankful for how God has blessed them and taken care of them. Their thankfulness brings them joy!
When things aren't going your way, when you're having a terrible day, don't be a turkey! Don't focus on all of the bad stuff! Force yourself to think about all of the amazing things you have in life and how much God loves you. When you have a thankful attitude, you might discover that those SUPER HUGE, OVERWHELMING PROBLEMS, just don't seem that big anymore.
QUESTIONS FOR HOME:
1. When you get together around the dinner table this week (or at a more convenient time when you're all together), take a few minutes to each share one thing that you're genuinely thankful for. This is an especially good exercise to do if one of you has had a bad day.
2. Can you think of a time when God took care of you or provided for you in an amazing way? Share that story with your teens, reminding them that even when life isn't perfect, there are tons of things to be thankful for.
2. Pray with your teens, thanking God for all of the ways he has blessed and taken care of you! Thank him that even when we have bad days, we still have so much to be thankful for.
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