Storehouses

 

I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given to you by Christ Jesus. 

1 Corinthians 1: 4 NKJV 

I recall a radio pulpit pounder some time ago claiming that if we were ever in need that we simply needed to ask in the name of Christ Jesus {John 14:13}.  I will agree with this.  However, in John 14 Jesus explains that whatever we ask in His name that He will do.  Why?  That the FATHER would be glorified in the Son.  I thought about all of this this week as we spiraled into yet another Thanksgiving holiday.  Now, it seems that whenever we draw nearer to Thanksgiving, we instinctively begin to rattle off a grocery list of things for which we ought to be thankful.  I get it.  We are thankful for our jobs.  We are thankful for the income we have to provide for our families.  All very much needed items we should indeed be thankful for.  Yet all too often we miss the mark on just where our appreciation is handed out.  We thank our boss for the income producing job.  Really?  Even a non-Christian has to realize that there is a higher power out there that plays a huge part in our circumstances.  Call it fate or karma, we are certainly not alone when it comes to our life provisions.  The Pilgrims, for long the centerpiece of our Thanksgiving holiday, understood the divine nature of their survival.  Many a early settler knew that it was only by God's grace that they endured the voyage to a strange new land as well as living on that land.  Yes, there were already native tribes here when they arrived.  What is interesting is that the native Indian tribes of North America also attributed their survival to a higher power.  Coincidence?  Knowing this, was it perhaps easier for the early Pilgrims to describe their own faith to the tribes?  Perhaps.  We do know that there were indeed converts to Christianity among the tribal people.  According to the Thanksgiving story, the Pilgrims celebrated their harvest with their tribal neighbors in an act of giving thanks for their provision.  Yes, the tribes had similar traditions a swell.  So it was that the earliest Americans praised God and gave thanks for His providence.  

"The Pilgrims made seven times more graves than huts.  No Americans have been more impoverished than these who, nevertheless, set aside a day of Thanksgiving"

H.U. Westermayer

That the early Pilgrims had it tough is beyond a doubt.  That we ourselves may have had rough times as well is also not without a doubt.   Many people cannot fathom the fact that the very same Spirit we embrace for our provision is also the same Spirit we humbly see as the provider of our dark times as well.  God is not all smiles and sunshine.  If you're looking for a creator that allows only good into your life and prohibits the bad things, then just maybe you might want to follow one of those Native American tribal spirits instead.  As Christians, we have become accustomed to accepting the good as well as the difficulties in our lives.  Jesus, in fact, speaks to us that in our lives we should expect difficulty and tough times {John 16:33}.  We can accept this with gladness because Jesus has overcome the world.  Whatever toil, difficulty and sadness we might endure in this life, it is but a passing thing.  As believers, we can be assured that our true life lies with Christ Jesus who is in us {Galatians 2:20}.  So, on this Thanksgiving, we have a one stop shop for our thankfulness for all which life has given us.  He is the Lord Jesus Christ.  He has not only blessed us with our provisions, but has also embraced us that we should endure the difficulties of the world as well.  He is our One and only. 

You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 

1 John 4: 4 NKJV 

~Scott~