Thankfulness

It's Thanksgiving week and I'm sure that EVERY church in America talked about "Being Thankful." yesterday.  The church we went to was no exception, but It wasn't the typical message that I hear every year.

Yesterday, my wife and I went to our "home church."  For those of you that don't know the expression, it's the church you grew up in.  For those of us who are in ministry full time, our "home church" is the place we can always go to.  We're always welcome with open arms.  We get to see old friends.  We get the encouragement we need to get back out there into full time ministry.  

I have seen a few pastors come and go at Arlington Countryside, but Pastor Dave Corlew is the real deal.  He's never afraid to challenge his congregation.  Most members wouldn't like that on a Sunday morning, but he knows he's not there to give people "warm fuzzies;" he's there to give them Jesus.

Where most sermons yesterday probably focused on being thankful for the good things you have (health,  family, job, etc), Dave challenged the congregation on a deeper level.  

"And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." Ephesians 5:20

Give thanks for EVERYTHING...good or bad.  Think about the apostle Paul.  The guy spent a good part of his ministry years in prison, but...that's where his ministry continues to this day.  The words that Paul wrote down during his myriad of prison terms make up a good chunk of our New Testament.  Essentially, his imprisonment provided an outlet for his best ministry.  Weird how God works sometimes.

These days, I have every reason to be mad at God and I don't think many people would blame me.  But I know God.  I know that he's got something up His sleeve.  Here's the way I look at it: If Paul can be thankful for being chained up in a damp dark prison, I can be thankful for being unemployed.  I do have SO much to be thankful for: An amazing wife, a heathy baby girl on the way, great family and friends, a roof over my head, heat, food, my health, and a place that serves bacon tacos down the street.  

Yeah, I'm thankful for all that stuff, but I'm also thankful for being unemployed.  It's given me the opportunity to write again; something that I lost a while back.  It's given me the opportunity to see and appreciate how truly amazing of a support system of friends and family that I have in place.  It has given me the opportunity to rest; something that I haven't given to myself in quite a while.

Psalm 23:2 says "He makes me lie down in green pastures..." 

Thanks God for "making" me lie down.