I’m not even supposed to be here today! I’m supposed to be in southern California, where, at the time of writing this, it is sunny and 75 degrees. I was supposed to be there for last Thanksgiving too. Unfortunately, a combination of Covid and other factors has it impossible to see my best friends in over two years. It’s hard enough when plans need to change under the best of circumstances; it hits a little differently when it happens around the holidays.
We look forward with hopeful hearts. We may not know what we’re going to do, but we almost always expect those days to be something special. Then something happens to take the wind out of your holiday sails, and Thanksgiving turns from a celebration into just another Thursday. Worse still is when you’ve met a tragedy around these special days that hangs like a shadow over future festivities.
I wish I could say that the life of the Christian was free from tragedy. Unfortunately, tragedy is part of the human experience. However, what we do have is hope, and hope, though it starts from the smallest places, can grow from a flicker into a flame.
Paul reminds of this in Romans 5:1-5, “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”
We never celebrate our suffering when we are in the midst of it. It is only through time and patience that we are able to endure, build character, and produce hope. There are some Thanksgivings that it’s going to be harder to say what you’re thankful for. That’s okay! Hope does not put us to shame. We know how dearly God loves us, and we feel this warm love everywhere within us because God has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.
Lord, help us remember that no matter what things look like today, there is always a new dawn, a new morning, a new creation on the horizon. Your mercies are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness. Amen.