Thanksgiving

   I have had a wonderful Thanksgiving with just my husband. We took time to rest, and time to play. It was actually great for me! I have been thinking over the past couple of weeks all of the things I was thankful for. I focused on the best things for me in the past year, however God wanted more. On Sunday, God revealed to me through the message that I needed to be thankful for all of it. I am sure Job in the Bible would have gotten a kick out of that. Who is ever thankful for the bad things? However I really felt like there was something God was trying to show me. I looked over the last year and thought about the situations and people that were most difficult for me to forgive. They all revolved around our adoption that fell through. You see I had forgiven them, however I was not thankful. I was wondering what this cloud was that was still hanging over that situation, and now I know because the moment I thanked God for each person, each situation and the outcome, the cloud lifted. I realized that the only way that God's love and grace could flow into that situation was if I was thankful for it.
   If that wasn't revelation enough for one Thanksgiving, I got part two this morning. Not only does God want us to be thankful, he wants us to be joyful throughout these times. James 1:2 says to consider it pure joy when we face trials of many kinds. God showed me that through thankfulness we can come to a place of joyfulness. If you are not thankful, then it is really hard to operate in God's joy. This revelation is amazing to me. In essence God is asking us to look at everything through His eyes, His perspective. This is difficult to do, which is why God wants us to be thankful, it shifts our perspective, then joy follows. I just wanted to share my revelation with you because I realize just how powerful this concept is. Imagine if every person in the world faced trials with thankfulness and joy. This world would be turned upside down.