What to Do After Thanksgiving (Besides Eating Leftovers)

In case you forgot, Thanksgiving is this Thursday. That has already put me in a good mood for the week because Thanksgiving is the doorway to my most favorite time of the year: “The Holidays.” One of the reasons I love this season so much is that it lends itself to hopeful reflection. Both Thanksgiving and the Christmas season call us to remember what God has done and to look more intently at what He’s doing right now.  It makes us take a “time-out” to express our gratefulness for His goodness and grace in our lives.

But with the joyous celebration of the season, I also find a challenge. It’s easy to be thankful on Thanksgiving (and Christmas for that matter). Thanksgiving is a day of abundance: great food, time off work, fellowship with family and friends. Why shouldn’t we thank God for all His blessings when we’re holding tangible evidence of them on our dinner and dessert plates? But what about after the Thanksgiving leftovers have been polished off and the daily grind starts again on Monday morning?  Will the Day of Thanks translate into daily thankful living? It seems that’s when the real challenge to be thankful comes.

The Bible is replete with verses about gratitude, but I think no verse stresses the practical importance of giving thanks than I Thessalonians 5:18: “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”  And for those of us who like to use the “we don’t have to give thanks for all things, just in all things” loophole, God has given us Ephesians 5:20: “giving thanks always for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” There’s no wiggle room here; God’s will for Christians is that they be thankful people, in everything and for everything.

For me, a griper by nature, the simply-stated direction from God’s Word is wonderfully helpful. With the added benefit of the Holy Spirit’s guidance, I don’t have to look far to see where thankful living can be applied in my life. When my inner-whiner wants to ask why our toddler has to make so many messes, the Holy Spirit helps me see those messes as sweet reminders that we have a toddler to love and care for (and one day I’ll miss those messes to clean up). Where my inner-mumbler sees the 4-hour attempt at fixing the car CD player as a complete waste of time, the Holy Spirit helps me see that the same venture expanded my knowledge of automobile interiors and confirmed that the CD player really is broken and I can be thankful for it.

 So, in case you, like me, are suffering from a little lack of GTA (Giving Thanks Always), use this year’s Thanksgiving celebration as the catalyst for injecting practical gratitude into your daily routine.  You can start by thanking God for the dishwasher…because as every Thanksgiving dinner clean-up crew knows, you’re going to need it.  

The Comeback

I’m not from Chicago. I’ve never even been to Wrigley Field. But this last Wednesday, I was as die-hard a Chicago Cubs fan as they come. Yes, I stayed up until nearly 1 am listening  to World Series Game 7 (baseball is, I think, the best sport to be broadcast over the air waves), hoping against hope that the Cubbies could pull out one more victory against the Cleveland Indians. And they did, in one of the most dramatic World Series games baseball aficionados could have imagined.

So, why, if I’m not a true Cubs fan, did I sacrifice sleep (and stable nerves) to wish them onto victory? Because I love comebacks, especially those made by underdogs. With 108 years since their last championship title, the Cubs were due for winning the Big One. Down in the series 3-1, they fought their way through three more games, two in enemy territory, to make baseball history. The Cubs’ comeback appeals to me, and I think to most people, because it gives us hope that things can be different, that the odds can be beat, and the tables can be turned. That sort of sentiment extends beyond the baseball diamond.

On the eve of Election Day, we Americans feel a lot like the Cubs. Donald Trump’s campaign slogan “Make America Great Again” has resonated with a lot of voters for good reason. The average American, no matter what his political affiliation, would like things to be different. We’re hoping that somehow the next four years might bring, among other things,  economic growth, racial reconciliation, the defeat of ISIS, and restored international prominence for our country. In other words, we’d like an American comeback.

As a Christian, it’s especially difficult for me not to be discouraged at the state of my country. America’s condition is beyond a simple presidential prescription. The very soul of our nation is sick; it needs spiritual renewal as only God Himself can bring. But it’s not just the body politic that needs the boost. The American Church, faced with the consequences of decades of losing its savor and hiding its light, is facing hostility and apostasy simultaneously. We’re down 3-1 in the series, and it looks like we’re going to be playing the next couple games at Progressive Field, not at Wrigley. We need a spiritual comeback—a revival.

But as much as I hope and pray for these political and spiritual comebacks, it’s me that’s most often in need of a second wind.  I assess my life, with all its facets, and find slumps where I want to see progress.  I consider what needs to change about my game and find the necessary work daunting.  I want to be a World Series champ, but the stats say it’s been awhile since I’ve been a serious contender.

Thankfully, God has good news for me, as He does for America, and for the Church. “Have you not known?” asks the prophet Isaiah. “Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary. He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall, but those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.” (Isaiah 40:28-31)

Comebacks are possible when we rely on God’s inexhaustible strength and trust in His never-failing care. Without that reliance and trust in Him, a true comeback won't ever happen. Some of the Cubs, I think, would suggest Isaiah’s playbook as the best comeback strategy. And as the 2016 World Series Champions, I think I’ll take their advice.