It’s Thanksgiving week and turkey with all the fixings await me. As I ponder all I have to be thankful for, my thoughts are juxtaposed against all my worries and challenges. I find myself weighing one against the other. In reality, the challenges I face are small in comparison to my blessings. Yet, the worries lay heavy on my heart, tipping the scale towards despondence instead of joy. How is one to respond when thankfulness doesn’t come easy?
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tells us not to worry. God cares for the flowers of the field and the birds in the air which are here today and gone tomorrow. How much more does He care for me–and you? If I trust Jesus’ words, then I must take all my worries and lay them on His altar, offering a sacrifice of thanksgiving in their stead.
The word sacrifice has several meanings but there is one I believe summarizes them all. Sacrifice is the surrender or destruction of something prized or desirable for the sake of something considered as having a higher or more pressing claim.* The Old Testament outlines in detail sacrifices offered to God. Most of these involved physical items of value such as a first-born lamb or a grain offering given to the priest absolving the giver from sin and guilt. God mandated these sacrifices at certain times and circumstances throughout the year.
But the thank offering fell into a totally different category. The people gave this voluntary sacrifice from the heart in gratitude for all God had done in the past and would do in the future. Psalm 50 speaks of God’s desire for this type of offering.
I have no need of a bull from your stall or of goats from your pen, for every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills . . . Do I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats? Sacrifice thank offerings to God, fulfill your vows to the Most High, and call on me in the day of trouble, I will deliver you and you will honor me.
Psalm 50: 9-10,13-15 NIV
In the very next psalm, King David cries out to God for restitution after his act of adultery with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband. Hear what he has to say about sacrifice when thankfulness doesn’t come easy.
Open my lips, Lord, and my mouth will declare your praise. You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it. You do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. My sacrifice is a broken spirit. A broken and contrite spirit, you God will not despise.
Psalm 51: 15-17 NIV
King David offered praise and a sacrifice of thanksgiving during–not after– his time of trouble. And we should do likewise. Remembering all God has done in the past, helps us trust that He will get us through our present difficulty. Even though our situation might appear bleak, take heart. He promises to work all things out for our good.
Nevertheless, sacrifice always comes with a cost. Letting go of my worry and praising God through my difficulty means I have to relinquish control. I must admit I can’t fix the situation myself and this leaves me in an uncomfortably vulnerable state. This is when the still small voice of God reassures me. Trust me. I’ve got this.
When thankfulness doesn’t come easy, I choose to praise God while I’m waiting for my desired outcome. Maybe everything will turn out as I hope or perhaps it won’t. Who knows? God may have a better plan than I could ever dream up. But I can’t join Him in this adventure if my hands remain gripped on the controls.
The sacrifice of thanksgiving comes with the requirements of self-surrender and an unwavering trust in the Lord. But the long-term benefits are well worth the cost.
*Definition from dictionary.com
