This week we will observe another Thanksgiving Day. It's a week later than usual this year because November 1 was on a Friday. That moves Thanksgiving a week closer to Christmas.
We usually think of Thanksgiving as a day to thank God for all the good things we have. That is right and good. But last week I read something that made me think a different way about giving thanks. It said something to the effect that we should be thankful for the good things we have and the problems we don't have.
Here is a short list of problems I'm thankful I don't have:- I'm not a widow
- None of my children have ever been in jail
- My car isn't wrecked (although I came close to doing that last week)
- I don't have a terminal illness
- I don't have debts to pay
- I don't have to wonder where my next meal will come from
- I'm not a refugee
- My husband is not a wife beater or child abuser
- I don't have any enemies (if anybody is mad at me I'm too dumb to know it)
- I'm not deaf or blind
- I don't need an oxygen tank
- I don't have to worry about where I will go when I die
The list could go on and on. For everything I have that I'm thankful for, there is a problem I'm thankful I don't have. Everything we have is a gift from God and every problem we don't have is an act of His mercy.
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