Giving Thanks

Winds roar in chaotic cyclones.

Change always brings uncertainty,
but this particular trip around the sun
has brought weightier unknowns,
darker nights, deeper divides.

Ancient words from our timeless King
speak quiet strength into our space.

Give.

When the world screams “Take. Hoard. Keep.”
the Creator who knows what we need says,
“Give.”

Give thanks.

Made from dust, our eyes bend down.
We look at our feet as we travel life’s road-
our own scrapes and bruises consuming our gaze.

Lift your eyes up to the hills, Beloved.
Remember where your help comes from.

“How can I give,” It’s easy to ask.
“When so much has been taken from me?!”

A suffering brother’s words, spoken so long ago,
still ring true today:
“The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away;
blessed be the name of the Lord.”

We bless because we have first been blessed.
Chosen, predestined, adopted, delivered and kept forever!
Made alive, raised up, and seated with him.
We are blessed beyond measure, beloved.

Our hearts of stone-turned-flesh must give thanks.
And there we find peace in the midst of the storm.

Giving thanks does not appease a needy god.
Rather, it roots us deeply in the rich, joy-filled soil that bears beautiful fruit,
and makes us withstand whatever winds may blow.

So as the culture shifts,
as familiar comforts are scattered,
look and see that you are already hidden in the cleft of the Rock.

Covered and kept, you are secure in Christ Jesus.
So give thanks.

The world will look and see,
a people rebelliously grateful.
Paradoxically peaceful.
And we will stand, arm in arm, facing the wind.
Pushing back the darkness in the most unexpected of ways:

By giving thanks.