"Happy Thanksgiving!" (Part 3)

Happy Thanksgiving! “Yeah, right!” is the retort from those who are having a difficult time in life. You may be one of those people today. For you, the sun simply is not shining. What do you do when the sun doesn’t shine? Well, it has happened before!

In 1883, history records that in New England the Sun didn't rise! The people awoke to an eerie darkness. They went outside to do their chores in stony silence. No rooster crowed, no birds chirped, none of the usual sounds of a new day. At the very start, people began to gather in small groups to question what was happening, to wonder and discuss what was taking place. Slowly, people began to make their way to the churches. They say that by noon every church in New England was filled to overflowing with people on their knees crying out to God. There were cries for mercy, people begging for forgiveness and others confessing their sins. They say that there were few people who didn't pray the day the sun didn't rise. The churches were full late into the night.

As the next morning neared, great crowds began to gather on the hilltops and the high places near their homes and churches. People were staring toward the eastern horizon. Every eye was fixed on that point where the sky touched the land. Every eye watching, hoping to catch a glimmer of the first rays of the Sun. As the sun began to come up over the horizon, people began to shout and yell praise to God; they clapped, danced and rejoiced because the Sun shined on the land again. As if in one voice, they began to praise the Lord for the sunlight, the warmth and the joy of God's new day.

They had no idea that on the Island nation of Indonesia, the sleeping giant of a volcano, Krakatoa, had come to life. They had no idea that this great mountain exploded sent a huge cloud of dust and ash into the upper atmosphere. This black cloud would be carried around the world by the jet stream. It was said to cover whole regions, covering the sky from horizon to horizon. Few people had any idea that a volcano, half way around the world, could create such a cloud that could block out the Sun. Yet for most of those people that was the very first time they ever thanked God for the warmth and wonder of the Sun.

It may be that in the midst of your trials, you have found it next to impossible to thank God. Today, as you find yourself in the midst of a “holiday,” won’t you spend a moment and thank God. It may be that you will have difficulty thinking of anything to thank Him for. Begin with the life He has given you – not the quality of your life at the moment, just life itself. Then, let your mind wander a bit. Little by little, find yourself replacing the negative with the positive. You have much more than perhaps you at first thought to thank Him about. You have freedom. You have family. You have food and shelter. You have eternal life! You have much to be thankful about.

“Always be joyful. Keep on praying. No matter what happens, always be thankful, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, NLV). Happy Thanksgiving!