Malachi 3:16-18 16Then those who feared the LORD talked with each other, and the LORD listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the LORD and honored his name. 17“On the day when I act,” says the LORD Almighty, “they will be my treasured possession. I will spare them, just as a father has compassion and spares his son who serves him. 18And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.
I started setting the table for our family Thanksgiving. As I smoothed out the vinyl tablecloth I have used for years, I began reading it. You see I purposely use vinyl and place permanent markers at several places. Then I instruct the family to write what they are thankful for. It is a great history of our blessings over many years. One year it is ‘thank you for a job’. Another it is ‘thank you God for my family and my health.’ This year will be different, maybe ‘thank you I did not get covid.’ This year won’t be different than many people before us who faced a plethora of circumstances equally as disconcerting!
Allow me to reflect a minute.
It’s a mess out there now. Hard to discern between what’s a real threat and what is just simple panic and hysteria. For a small amount of perspective at this moment, imagine you were born in the year 1900.
On your 14th birthday, World War I begins, and it finally ends on your 18th birthday. 22 million people perished in that war. Later in the year, a Spanish Flu epidemic hits the planet and runs until your 20th birthday. 50 million people die from it in those two years. Yes, 50 million people died. Are you adding this up?
On your 29th birthday, the Great Depression begins. Unemployment hits 25%, the World GDP drops 27%. That runs until you are 33. The country nearly collapses, along with the world economy.
When you turn 39, World War II begins. You aren’t even over the hill yet. And don’t try to catch your breath because on your 41st birthday, the United States is fully pulled into WWII. Between your 39th and 45th birthday, 75 million people perish in the war.
Smallpox was epidemic in the world until you were in your 40’s, as it killed 300 million people during your lifetime.
At 50, the Korean War starts. 5 million perish. From your birth, until you were 55, you dealt with the fear of polio epidemics each summer. You experienced friends and family contracting polio and being paralyzed and/or dying.
At 55 the Vietnam War begins and doesn’t end for 20 years. 4 million people perish in that conflict. During the Cold War, you lived each day with the fear of nuclear annihilation. On your 62nd birthday you experience the Cuban Missile Crisis, a tipping point in the Cold War. Life on our planet, as we know it, almost ended. When you turn 75, the Vietnam War finally ends. Over the course of those years, 147 MILLION people die. Every life is precious of course, yet we know that disease, war and death are not unique or novel. So…
How do we get through this present pandemic?
How can we give thanks at this Thanksgiving season?
The answer is found in this last verse. WE SERVE GOD.
What does SERVING God look like?
- We put our faith and trust in Him. He is in charge. Don’t worry, God has the plan.
- We trust Him with our whole heart.
- We daily read Bibles and study His Word.
- We pray daily and communicate with God. We speak and He listens and then He speaks and we listen.
- We share the Gospel with everyone we come in contact with. People are dying to hear about the saving Grace of God.
- We thank God for what He has given us.
- Our Health
- Family
- A home
- Food
- Friends
- God’s daily guidance
And most importantly—Our SALVATION! God sent His son to die for us. Someday we will live in heaven with Him. How exciting!
Let us not be fearful during this trying but not really ‘novel’, or unusual time in our history. Our God is big enough to handle it all and we will come out victorious, with a testimony and we will rejoice that once again God has heard our prayer.
We must remember that we are God’s children.
Would anyone today take their child that they love and would die for, and just leave him on the street to fend for himself? Of course not! We would nurture him and protect him, give him shelter and show him our unconditional love.
That is exactly how God feels about us, His children. He will take care of us and protect and provide for us. We must just trust Him.
Don’t allow fear to grip you and suffocate the life out of you. We have a big God that has got all of this pandemic under His control. My title says it all, “Tragedy inspires Thanks.” When I write my thanks on the table cover today I will mention my thanks to God for keeping all of our ancestors alive through such tragedy. It not only reminds us that we are not alone, but, we are cut from thee same cloth as they were. If they made it through, so can we! Be inspired through our tragedy, and give thanks to God for everything!
PSALM 95
“Oh come, let us sing to the Lord! Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; Let us shout to Him with psalms.”
“For the Lord is the great God, and the great King above all gods. In His hand are the deep places of the earth; The heights of the hills are His also. The sea is His, for He made it; and His hands formed the dry land.”
“Oh come, let us worship and bow down; Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker. For He is our God. And we are the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand.
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