Being thankful for the promise of thanksgiving

Thanksgiving.

Well it's that time of year, it's fall and Thanksgiving is this week. On my husband husband's side we already celebrated Thanksgiving earlier this week, more on that in a minute. But back to my first train of thought.

Thanksgiving. What exactly is it?
Well the definition is: "(in North America) an annual national holiday marked by religious observances and a traditional meal including turkey. The holiday commemorates a harvest festival celebrated by the Pilgrims in 1621, and is held in the US on the fourth Thursday in November. A similar holiday is held in Canada, usually on the second Monday in October."


It's a religious observance, isn't that interesting.  Hmmm the more you know. Some verses for a thankful Thanksgiving reference. 

Psalm 107:1 (NIV) -“Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.”

1 Thessalonians 5:18 (NIV) – “Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

Colossians 4:2 (NIV) – “Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.”

Colossians 3:15 (NIV) – “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.”

Psalm 69:30 (NIV) –“I will praise God’s name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving.”

Can I continue to be really honest with y'all. 

Lately it's been hard to be excited about Thanksgiving, my personal favorite holiday. I told you I recently how we are struggling. My husband hasn't found a job and we don't know how we're going to pay our bills. December is home to three of the five people in our family's birthdays. And of course next month it's a month full of traditions for us, Traditions that cost money. 

Its hard for me to give up traditions I want to always do these things so we remember to do things together. I want to be able to go and cut down our Christmas tree, I want to be able to drive a few hours away to Christmas lights watch in the horse-drawn carriage while we drink the hot cocoa and eat the cinnamon rolls. I want to be able to go pick out a new ornament, get Cadence's first picked out ornament.

But this year those things just might not happen. This year we are struggling. This year Christmas lights cost extra money on our electric bill and the stockings will be stuffed with trick or treat candy. This year I am struggling. But I'm not struggling, I'm struggling but I am still so thankful. That we can put trick or treat candy in those stockings, and that we have stockings, that we have each other. (1 Thessalonians 5:18)

I'm so thankful for our Sunday school class who loves us, They check in with me to see how interviews are going, and to let me release my frustrations in a safe place, They volunteer to watch the babies, and most of all they are praying for us. (Colossians 3:15)

 Right now I might not have much tangibleness to be thankful for, but it's the intangible that I am so thankful for. 

Thank you for your prayers, and your time. Those things make this a time of utter Thanksgiving.

Doing the actual "Be Still"

My life is in a bit of a turbulent period, o.k. if it was a movie you would be seeing sharks and tornadoes. You see a few years ago we were starting to build up our nest egg and the thing you never plan for happened. My husband was injured at work. Not like a little bump, or broken arm...he had a dual level cervical disc herniation. We were about to hit some turbulence.
 

Before we could get our pre-marriage debt paid off, we were back to treading water. At a third of my husband's regular pay we started to slowly get our feet under us. It was hard, and we couldn't afford the extravagances that we would've liked but we survived.

Once he was finally released things didn't automatically get better. He had to take a travelling job, and was gone for approximately 6 months. During those 6 months, I grew a baby. I wrangled our toddler alone, and went through my second pregnancy. I was lonely. I had deep depression. I felt abandoned and unloved. I know I wasn't but the enemy knows how to attack us the best, and I was under attack. I cried daily, I felt like the worst mother because I was so overwhelmed, and I clung to to Christ. I prayed deeper.

My husband came off the project when our daughter was born. We had saved enough for 2 months of bills. But we are at the end of those 2 months. I am in the storm. I am crying out in fear. But do you know what Christ is saying to me?

Mark 4:39-41 "He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”

AmyRenee do you still have no faith? He can calm the waves with a phrase, "Be still". But you see the difference between me and the waves, the waves obey. There are 4 times the bible says to "Be Still"

Exodus 14:13-14 “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.”

The Lord had just liberated the Israelites from Egypt, He had turned the Nile to Blood, He had covered them in boils, dead frogs were everywhere and the first born of every family had died. But because the Egyptians were chasing them they thought God had abandoned them, they forgot everything He was capable of doing. OUCH! Hi God, maybe I should put some sandals on and go stand by the Red Sea with my doubt. The very next thing said was from the Lord "Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on." He was preparing to fight for them, they are cornered on the banks of the Red Sea. All they have to do is be still and He will fight for them. HE WILL FIGHT FOR THEM. He never stopped fighting for them they simply doubted and feared. Anyone feeling attacked, no not by the world but by your own doubt. Standing with your back to the wall (or here the sea) questioning where God is, and then he tells you to move on...Uhm sorry to bring it up God but there is nowhere to move on to...there is a big deep sea in my way.

Even if you only have a rudimentary knowledge of the Bible you probably know how this story ended, God made a way. He literally MADE A WAY. He turned the sea into a dry road for the Israelites to walk across, and He held the Egyptians at bay. All they had to do was stay still until God told them to move on. Isn't that easy? But we, ok maybe just me, constantly fail that simply instruction.

Just be still, it's easy right?

Nehemiah 8:11 "The Levites calmed all the people, saying, “Be still, for this is a holy day. Do not grieve.”

You can become overwhelmed just like God's people did. They had gotten back in God's word, they were reading the law and were overwhelmed. Realizing how bad they were. How far they had moved away. But God never moved away, He remained in the same place. He was still there in the Holy day, just waiting for them to be still and honor it, honor Him. How often do we still busy ourselves on Holy days, ignoring Him until everything piles up on us and we are overwhelmed. Then we come broken and weeping. When all we needed to do was be still.

It's easy to get distracted though isn't it. Sitting here typing this I can't help but think about everything I don't have. Worried about how we are going to pay our bills. I watch social media and see everyone else careless and worry free as they plan their holidays... and I just want to know how we are going to pay our electric bill and our rent. But that is precisely why we should be still.

Psalms 37:7 says "Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; do not fret when people succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes."

Whether they are succeeding, or being wicked. I do not need to worry about it. I need to just patiently wait on what the Lord has planned for me. Wait patiently. More on that another day, today we are focusing on what that looks like. Not pacing, but being still as any child knows. Not fidgeting but being still it's hard.

Why can we be still as we wait? We know who God is. It should be easy for us, but we forget.

Psalms 46:10 “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”

God is with us, always. He has a plan to protect us, we just have to wait until He tells us to move on. We might not see how, and it might be easier to just lay around crying and wallowing in all the things that we have done. Thinking that it might be a punishment for all of our sins. Looking side to side seeing everyone else succeeding, good people and bad people. Wondering why we are about to be completely washed away, drown by our enemies and fears.

But our only real purpose is not to succeed, it is to worship Christ. To exalt Him. That is our calling.

I need to stop.

I need to be still.

I need to exalt Him, in everything.

Thank you Lord for being with me through it all. You alone are to be praised. Praise the Lord, no matter where I am in my life You are God and I am yours. You are great, and I am blessed to be yours. I will wait here until you tell me to move on.

I will be still.

What "What Would Jesus Do" means to me

If you were alive in the 90's and the early 00's then you've heard the saying WWJD.

What would Jesus do? It became a mantra for Christians, an outcry, a rally call, and then it became noise. It was a one-off, this symbol means I am a Christian, I don't actually want to know what Jesus would do. I don't actually want that reminder that as a Christian, I am supposed to be Christ-like, a little Christ. 

So I ask myself, and in turn I ask you. What does it really mean...not the easy answer, but the real answer. What would Jesus really do? 

I took a dive into the only place I know I can undeniably know what Jesus would do, I dove into His letter to me. Matthew 9:35&36 tells me " Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd."  

What DID Jesus do?

Went: move from one place to another; travel.

He didn't stay put, He didn't just pray that people would come to Him, He went to them. He wasn't complacent. He was mobile. I need to learn that, I need to be what Jesus was. I need to go, go out. As someone who is anxious simply writing this and putting it out for others to read scares me. But that isn't what Jesus would do. Jesus would speak to people.

Teaching: show or explain to (someone) how to do something.

He taught them where they were, in their comfort zones. Recently my mother was staying with me and had read a statistic about how many people will come to church, and it was low. I am called to be like Jesus, and people are watching me where we are. They are learning from me constantly, they are learning who this Jesus is by my attitude while I stand in the checkout line, while I discipline my children in the store, when I respond to attitudes in traffic, and how I react to my interpersonal relationships. I am always teaching. 

Proclaiming: announce officially or publicly

Jesus didn't keep quiet. He proclaimed the good news of the kingdom. I need to overcome my own sin fears and proclaim. Not just talk, or say something, but proclaim! Announce it officially, I AM a Christian and I know Christ, I want you to know Christ too, I know Heaven and Hell, and I do not want you to go to hell. I repeat, I do not want you to go to hell. Hell is real and I care enough about you to tell you. I care enough about you to tell you. Once more, I care enough about you, I will not let my fear overcome me and I will proclaim the good news of the kingdom to you. 

Healing: the process of making or becoming sound or healthy again.

Jesus healed...Jesus still heals. How, no not how but what can I heal. I believe that Christ can physically heal others through me, I believe miracles still happen, and I believe I can be used as a conduit for that. But outside of physical ailments what can I heal. I can heal my relationships, I can choose to forgive and let go. I can stand with my friends through their relationships, through teetering on divorce and help them choose to heal their marriages.  I can be a sounding board for my friends and reflect Christ and not noise to them. I through Christ can heal.

Compassion: sympathetic pity and concern for the sufferings or misfortunes of others

Jesus had compassion. Sympathetic pity, concern for their sufferings and misfortunes. DO I have actual compassion, or do I only show shallow compassion. Am I only a crying reaction or heart reaction on Facebook, or am I a call you and cry with you in your moment reaction. Is my compassion superficial and not real true heart-wrenching suffering with you compassion. Compassion is to suffer with, do I ignore the hard texts and only answer the easy ones. Do I run from your suffering or worse yet ignore it all together. What would Jesus do?

These are the things Jesus would do. And as a Christian, a true saved from literal Hell Christian, a called to be like Christ-Christian, a living word Christian these are the things I should do.