Thanksgiving: Jesus Honors Our Sacrifice
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In hard times, thanksgiving is an intentional sacrifice. Some years and seasons are easier to give thanks. Last December, pages of thanksgiving poured out of me for all the good things that happened. But this year has been one of the hardest years, full of challenges, adversity, and losses. This morning, I just found out a dear relative has advanced cancer. He was the one who brought John and I together and was the best man in our wedding. How can I thank the Lord? Yet the Lord asks us in times of trouble to offer sacrifices of thanksgiving. He says that thanking Him in hard times honors Him.
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.
Those who sacrifice thank offerings honor me,
and to the blameless I will show my salvation.
Ps. 50:14-15, 23
I remember one time chatting with our Founder Sally McClung when Floyd was sick for many years, and she was also battling cancer for many years. I asked her, “Why would the Lord allow such things to happen?” She responded, “I don’t ask why. I ask Whom. Whom do I trust?” It was a reply that changed my life. We give thanks not because of why, but because of Jesus — Whom we follow. Because of the Faithful Whom we serve, we are exhorted to “give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (I Thess. 5:18).
As we approach the Thanksgiving holiday here in the U.S., let’s create two parallel columns in our journal. In one column, we list all our “spontaneous thanksgivings.” This year in Malawi, several of our local leaders said, “I’m grateful that this week there wasn’t a day our family went without a meal.” Then in the other column, let us pour out to Jesus our “sacrifices of thanksgiving” for each and every hardship, loss, and challenge in our lives. As we do so, the Lord honors us while we honor Him. “Thanksgiving” in Chinese is 感恩 and it literally means to be “thankful for grace.” In hard times, we are thankful for His grace that carries us.
Jesus, you are Whom we love and follow.
With gratefulness for you,
Dr. Mary Ho, DSL, International Executive Leader
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