I purchased a notebook a couple years ago where I keep a list of sorts. I call it my Thanksgiving journal. To date I’ve listed #1792 gifts. The concept of listing these gifts that enter my life each day came to my attention through Ann Voskamp’s classic, One Thousand Gifts. The great big, Greek word for ‘thanksgiving’ is Eucharisteo. Like an old- fashioned stacking toy, inside that big word is a hidden word, Charis, which means grace. Then hidden within the word charis is another word, char, (chara), the Greek word for joy. I know that’s a tiring line-up of a lot of foreign words, but here’s my point behind this stacking-toy imagery: when we embrace a heart of thanksgiving, God miraculously enters our situation by his grace and fills us with joy.
I love Paul’s response to the people in a town called Lystra. They were confused about who God was: 16 In the past God permitted all the nations to go their own ways, 17 but he never left them without evidence of himself and his goodness. For instance, he sends you rain and good crops and gives you food and joyful hearts.” Acts 14:15-17
God will always give us the freedom to choose our own way through life, yet He points to a more satisfying way by providing evidence of his nearness and his goodness: He pours out blessings, satisfies our souls and fills hearts with bountiful joy when we turn toward him.
If a joy-filled heart isn’t your experience, your reality might change with thanksgiving. I keep this running list in my journal simply because I want to catch the many ways God proves his nearness and his goodness on any given day. I read in the book The Broken Way—“A new day isn’t God’s obligation to me. It’s His affirmation of me.” He still believes I’m worth breathing life into. The way my heart becomes joyful is by believing in His love for me and responding with thanksgiving to even the smallest evidences of it.
Prior to the text above, Paul begins with these words: You should turn from these worthless things and turn to the living God (v 15). Today I want to encourage you to turn your face toward God. Look for whispers of his love and evidences of his goodness all around you. Then list your findings. I believe the shortest pencil will lead to the fullest heart.
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