How was your Thanksgiving? Mine ended up to be a good, quiet, family-focused kind of day– with appropriate gratitude thrown into the mix– but it COULD have been very different! It’s humbling to admit it, but as a Christ follower I think it’s important to come clean on this one. See, within just one busy week, I all too well had a deeper understanding of the foibles of the Israelites wandering in the desert.
For those of you who don’t know the story: after God chooses Moses to lead the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt, they lose focus, don’t trust God, and end up wandering for 40 years before they can enter the promised land. What I never could grasp was how they could literally see the presence of God guiding them with a pillar of fire at night, and a pillar of clouds by day, and yet still they whined and complained and wanted to return to the bondage they had left. And then last week happened…
It wasn’t a storm, an accident, or any kind of tragedy that inserted itself into my thinking. In fact, trials are times my faith kicks in high gear! Life is actually going relatively well for me at the moment, and I KNOW how blessed I am. Yet early one morning, battling insomnia, I decided I might as well get up and write:
‘Twas the week of Thanksgiving and all through the home, not a creature was stirring, except of course for the Mom who couldn’t sleep The stockings were in the laundry basket with care, along with the other clean whites waiting to be brought back upstairs, but currently sitting on the couch And Dad still asleep, and Mom heading downstairs… Her brain wasn’t settling down for a winter’s nap; there was too much to do With counters and tables all covered in clutter ( excessive junk mail- thanks to the recent elections) She looked around at the piles and under her breath began to mutter…
Wow. Can’t you just hear the pity party? Had I stayed on that track, my Thanksgiving might have been ruined by my own poor attitude, and this could have been a very different blog entry.
So what happened to bring me into such a funk? After all, though I might not see pillars of fire and clouds, I have experienced God working in my life! (Drawing Water even just had a wonderful ministry opportunity on Saturday.) The sad truth of it is, a dangerous stronghold for me is an old spirit of independence. I get busier and busier with a to-do list, and pretty soon I start believing the lie that I have to do everything on my own. At these times I still talk to God, but I sure don’t “have time” to slow down and listen to Him. Maybe the Israelites were tired too; maybe they were stressed about upcoming holidays. Maybe it shouldn’t be a surprise that the holidays (and the growing hype about Black Friday Sales) tend to pull Christ followers out of alignment- what better way to say to the world, that “Peace” is a myth?
Anyway, I put on the brakes and have spent more time counting my blessings, and I can’t tell you how genuinely grateful I am that the Holy Spirit convicted me mid-complaint!
And now I’m here to exclaim, ere I wrap up this post-
A time of TRUE Thanksgiving, I wish for you most. 🙂
runningtothedeep 