Laced With Grace

The fireplace is glowing. The turkey is roasting. The pies are cooling. And the guests will soon be arriving.

This sets the scene for so many of us today, as we gather with our loved ones around a table of plenty and offer up our thanks for the blessings that we have all received. It is a wonderful day to celebrate the goodness of our Father and share in love and memories with our loved ones. It is a day to rejoice. To celebrate. And to remember.

The writing team here at LACED WITH GRACE will be sitting down to our own feast sometime today. Each of us live in a different town, even different states, but we all share a kindred spirit with one another and a special appreciation for each of you, our readers! We would like to take this time to just say THANK YOU to all of you who so faithfully tune in Monday thru Friday to share with us as we write from our hearts. We also give honor and praise to the One Who inspires us and spurs us on…Jesus Christ, Who is the reason we are able to give thanks.

So from our Thanksgiving table to yours, all of us here at LWG wish you and yours a very blessed THANKSGIVING!

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FROM NORTH CAROLINA… “This Thanksgiving, I’m thankful for becoming keenly aware of God’s presence by searching for God in the moment. Sometimes the moments have full of joy. Sometimes the moments have difficult to accept. They’ve both come from His hand so I can experience the truth that He is enough.” -MARSHA

FROM SOUTH CAROLINA…‘This Thanksgiving,I am savoring the fact that my children are still all under one roof (only one more year probably). I’m thankful for that roof, the family God has made us, and that cooking and eating together carves an all-five-senses memory deep into our lives. Happy Thanksgiving, all.” - DAWN

FROM FLORIDA… “What a tremendous joy it is to be living in a day with such awesome opportunities to share the love of Jesus Christ with the world! I used to have a Mary Englebreit t-shirt that read: ‘Life is just so daily’. I thought it was cute–but as I reflect on those words in a spiritual context, I change it up:  ‘His benefits and blessings are SO daily!’ (Psalms 68:19) Thank you faithful readers for joining us on this journey of daily benefits and discovery of the truths that God would have us know!” - ANGIE

“This Thanksgiving, I am thankful for the sweet times God has graciously given my family and I to spend together on camping adventures. With the unexpected death of my mother in law earlier this year, we have learned to savor and cherish these moments away were we can simply relax, connect and have lots of fun.” - DANA

FROM IOWA… “I am thankful for a wonderful husband and 5 beautiful children. I am most thankful for a God who loves me, forgives me, encourages me, and challenges me to be more like Him everyday. I am thankful for a network of beautiful women on the internet who so honestly share their hearts and experiences all for the glory of God. Have a blessed and joyous thanksgiving.” Much love – TRACY

FROM ARIZONA… “Happy Thanksgiving to all! I am so thankful for God’s faithfulness. He has provided me with what I needed through a very challenging season in my life. I have a wonderful family, many blogging friends, a job that involves children, an opportunity to write and share Christ and His peace. He is sufficient for all my needs!” -DEBBIE

How much time do you spend reflecting on your past so you can remember and thank God for how He has worked on your behalf? Lately, God has repeatedly shown me the need to do this very thing.

It happened just this morning during my daily time with God as I read Psalm 107. If you have time, read this Psalm now. This particular Psalm celebrates the Jews’ return from exile in Babylon, recounts what God did for them, and praises Him for His works. Here are some of the ways God worked:

• God provided, satisfied, and filled those with physical needs like shelter, food, and water.
• God snapped the chains and cut the bars for those in prison.
• God eased the distress of those suffering the consequences of their sin.
• God protected those in danger. He calmed the storms and saved them.

When God’s people recounted His deeds, they responded with:

• Thanksgiving (vs 1)
• Told others what God had done (vs 2)
• Praised God (vs eight)
• Exalted God publicly (vs 32)

The psalmist ends his song by passing along some advice:

Those who are wise will take all this to heart; they will see in our history the faithful love of the Lord. Psalm 107:43, NLT

Take a few moments today to review your history. How has God worked in your life to provide, protect, free, and ease? Will you praise and thank Him today?

God’s Word also encourages us to “speak out” and “tell others how He has saved you” (Psalm 107:2). Let’s do that today! Share with us now about how God has worked in your life!

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. — Philippians 4:6

The longer I’m on this journey with God, the more I realize how little I truly understand of his ways. But that’s okay. I’m learning to trust Him for the big picture. In fact, I’ve found a lot of relief in that, knowing it wasn’t up to me to keep the world spinning on its axis (wink).

But we do like to be in control, don’t we? And though it’s biblical to have a thankful attitude, it’s often counterintuitive to our human nature. Yet God knew how important this attitude would be not only to our spiritual health, but to our emotional and physical health as well.

One of the harder lessons we have to learn on this journey is to be thankful for our trials. The key here is understanding some important truths:

• God is good. First John 4 is all about God’s character and that He IS love. Therefore his motivations for allowing trials in our lives are good as well. He’s literally not capable of a bad motivation. That’s the one thing God simply can’t do.

• God is in control. All our trials have God’s seal of approval. That one can be hard to swallow, but understanding the first truth I pointed out helps a lot. The story of Job is a great representation of this truth. Everything has to go before God first. If He allows a trial or challenge in our life, He has a reason. And like Job, we may not understand what it’s all about. God simply asks that we trust Him and trust that He has a purpose for it all.

• God is an equipper. To look at the Bible as a whole is to see a story spanning hundreds of years with a universal message. God loves his children and does not abandon them. He doesn’t just allow a trial in our life and then leave us to fend for ourselves. God has already given us his strength through his Holy Spirit. It’s right there. We just have to make sure we’re functioning in that strength and not our own. That means we need to spend time with God in order to stay close to Him and the source of that strength.

• God is a redeemer. The amazing thing about all our trials is that God redeems everything. He doesn’t allow them in our lives without a reason. He has a purpose and a plan for each one. Sometimes the focus is on us, other times it’s to do with another person in our lives, like a spouse or a child. He uses them to refine our faith, teach us more about His character, and to bring us closer to understanding what sacrificial love is all about. He brings us closer to the image of his Son, Jesus.

So in the midst of our trials, we can be thankful for all these truths. God even calls us to combine thanksgiving with our prayers and petition. He does this for our own benefit, so that we can keep our eyes focused on him and not our situation. And to build our trust in Him.

My favorite verse is Romans 8:28: And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

You may have heard it a hundred times, but this time let it soak in and really permeate your faith. God works for our good in ALL things. Not just some of them, or just the good things. He works in ALL of them. This is one of our greatest promises and something to truly be thankful for.

Praying and believing,
Dineen

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