Do You Have Anything To be Thankful For?
Do you have anything to be thankful for? Thanksgiving is over and your bellies are full. Nobody wants to go any way near a scale because you know you ate too much! LOL. So as you sit with your bellies full, your pants unbuttoned or unzipped with your feet up chillin while watching the game, I’ll ask you again, do you have anything to be thankful for?
This is the time of year that people get extremely depressed more than any other time of year. Why is that?
The most obvious reason is because this is the season to spend time with family and friends that we love and who love us. But what about people who for whatever the reason have no one to love and no one to love them? Did you take anytime today to think about them? Are you one of them?
A lot of people are dealing with social isolation because of the disconnectedness in their lives. This can be due to circumstances beyond their control. They may even be in that situation due to choices they have made, but either way, shouldn’t we at least take the time to say a prayer for them?
What about those who have suffered various types of losses; such as death in their families, loss of a job, etc? How do we show them that wherever they find themselves, if they are still breathing, they still have the power with God’s help to change their situation? Let’s talk about what it looks like.
Are you living your life knowing that, if you are still alive God has you here to solve some problem on this earth? Are you living your life knowing that no matter your current life situation you have the power of God inside yourself to achieve that purpose and goal?
So let’s start there. How do we live understanding that no matter where you find yourself, there is someone on the planet that has it much worse than you. So we can’t waste time feeling sorry for ourselves. And we can’t let those around us do it either. We have to keep our focus on God and what is good in your lives. And no matter the situation we may find ourselves in there is something good in your lives. The bible says it like this in 1 Thessalonians 5:18 (amp) 18 in every situation [no matter what the circumstances] be thankful and continually give thanks to God; for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus. Keep in mind that there is power for the change you want when you obey God’s word. It doesn’t have to make sense to you, just do anyway & see what happens.
If you don’t believe me ask God to lead you to a place where you can volunteer and help others. Would you like to trade places with one of them? Or just watch your local news. Have you ever heard the saying I was crying about not having shoes when I met someone who didn’t have any feet?
So whether your thanksgiving was good or not, we have to stop complaining about what is missing in our lives and just start celebrating what is good in our lives. Even if you have to dig real deep, we all have something to thank God for.
I’ll use myself as an example. The Sunday before thanksgiving my husband and I have to rush my dog Joe (everybody who knows me knows I love my Joe) to the emergency animal hospital. He was yelling out in pain, shaking like crazy nonstop and he would not eat or drink anything. It costs me $120 for them to tell me that they had no idea what was wrong with him. But if I gave them even more money, $300 – $650, they could run all these tests. I have already asked God what was wrong, so I decided to wait to hear what God had to say about it. I just wanted to make sure Joe was not going to die.
The next day I had to pay the dentist $100 to get my teeth cleaned & a filling but I found I also need additional dental work. The braces will be $4000 and I need it least one of two crowns at about $400 – $800 apiece.
The same day I had to help a family member with a legal issue that cost me 500 more dollars. No one else in the family had any money. Now remember this was only Monday. On Tuesday I had to see my eye doctor and this cost another $35.00 and another $30.00 with my insurance for the prescription she gave me. And if that wasn’t enough, she informed me that I now need laser surgery in both of my eyes. You would think that was enough wouldn’t you? Well it wasn’t! That night our refrigerator just stop working – we just got it fixed a month ago so we had to get a repair guy in on Wednesday because thanksgiving is Thursday! So what was the verdict? We needed a new refrigerator!
I’m not sure how you do things but I’m just like most people. I save my money during the year to buy gifts during the holidays because I love celebrating and spending time with my family. I also want to be in the position to help people too. But now I had to spend that money on the things I just told you about to help myself. So what did I do? I did what it says in Philippians 4:6 (amp) 6 Do not be anxious or worried about anything, but in everything [every circumstance and situation] by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, continue to make your [specific] requests known to God. Sooooo I took a deep breath, I thanked God because at least I had the money for me to use. I then asked him to return the money I just spent. Then I used that money to get the things that I needed.
And if that wasn’t enough, one of my best friends needed financial help so I loaned her some money ($400) with interest of course lol. We already have a standing agreement; it was the timing of it that made it bad.
And in spite of all of this I had a great thanksgiving! We spent Thursday with my in-laws, they are always great & the food was amazing as always. My husband & I went to his friend’s birthday party on Friday. I cooked dinner on Saturday with friends & family over at my house. Then on Sunday God told me what was wrong with my dog Joe – it was his prescription food at $40 a bag. He also told me what to do about it and in spite of all of this, I still feel & know that thru it all I am so blessed!
This is why I say that no matter where you are in your life keep your focus on the things that are good in your life! If you feel you have nothing to be thankful for – that is a lie! But if that’s how you fee,l you must be willing to make the changes you need to in order to bring into your life the things that you need and want! Check out Psalms 20:4 (amp) May He grant you your heart’s desire and fulfill all your plans. You can live the life you want! God will help you if you let Him!
I hoped by sharing my situations with you, you now have incentives for the New Year.
Happy holidays to all of you! Now let me ask you just one more time. Do you have anything to be thankful for? Of course you do!
Clarence D. Sellers Jr
I’m thankful the breathe of life I have in my body and I’m so thankful that God hasn’t giving up on me yet. Thank you for the post IT REALLY ENCOURAGES ME !!!!!! THANK GOD YOU!!!!!!