On
the fourth Thursday of November, we as
Americans celebrate Thanksgiving.When thinking about this annual
tradition we think of family and
friends, the turkey, stuffing and
pumpkin pie, and spending time on the
couch watching football in a trance-like
state because of the enormous amount of
tryptophan consumed from the turkey.At least that’s how the day is
for me.However you celebrate
Thanksgiving, the part of the day that
can easily be overshadowed is the giving
thanks part.For some of you though, being
thankful may be difficult.How can I be thankful, you may
ask, if I’m hurt, lonely, ashamed,
upset, frustrated, confused, guilty,
troubled, scared, pathetic, unhappy,
depressed, or angry?
You
probably don’t relate with all these
sentiments but there may be one or two
that hit home.Whether it’s the pressure of
getting good grades, having to have a
boyfriend or girlfriend, looking or
acting a certain way, or having to drink
or do drugs to fit in, the stresses in
our life are not in short supply.Life’s challenges can really
overwhelm us and keep us from seeing our
blessings.As hard as it is to realize it
sometimes, we do have blessings, and one
of the most important ones is God’s
ability to relate to us.You’ll never hear me say that
life is easy but I will say that if
anyone understands our ordeals, it’s
Jesus Himself, who experienced
frustration, disappointment, and hurt.His best friends abandoned him.He was mocked and rejected even
after healing and forgiving people.His family thought He was crazy.There were times where He
sometimes felt alone, persecuted and
broken.Despite all this, Jesus took
comfort in God the Father’s love.We too can find comfort knowing
that God is with us and will not let us
be defeated by life’s storms.
We
know from many passages in the Gospels
that Jesus had compassion on people.The Greek word for compassion
literally means to suffer with.Jesus suffers with His people. He
doesn’t want us to handle life’s
problems without Him.Our God became one of us and
promises to us, His people, that He will
not abandon us.This is truly something to be
thankful for, not just on the fourth
Thursday of November, but every day.In turn, let us give this
blessing to others as well, having
compassion for those who also are
enduring life’s difficulties, so that
they too will glorify God with us.
