Thankful

I am thankful for healthy children. I am thankful for a wife who still laughs at my jokes. I am thankful for steady work. I am thankful for a warm home, food when I am hungry and a bed when I am tired. Thankful for the opportunity to serve in my local church, for a pastor who still gets choked up when he talks about Jesus’ love.
Thankful that I was formed in the womb of a mother who wanted me. Thankful that I was born in a country that is free. Thankful that I was raised in a Christian home. Thankful for God’s Word that showed me I was a sinner in need of a Savior. Thankful for showing me there was nothing I could do to right the wrongs with Him, only completely trust and depend upon the Son and the work He had done. Thankful that God took my sin and its stench and placed it upon the spotless innocent Lamb, and then He took that Lambs innocence and placed it on me.
With all that I am thankful for I am torn. It is easy to be thankful when things are good. It is also easy to overlook just how thankful we should be.
What about those for whom things are not so good?. The wife who is beaten, the husband who is cheated, the child who is unwanted. The single mom looking for a job. The parents who lost their child. The lonely, the sad, the angry, the hurt.
What about those born in oppresive countries? Those who do not have basic needs such as food, clothing, shelter, medicine. Those born and raised as muslim or buddhist and have never heard of such a thing called the Gospel. Our brothers and sisters around the world who pay dearly for believing.
Why was I given so much and another given so little? Does God love me more? Did I do something right and he do something wrong? Should I feel comfortable or guilty?
Maybe I was the one given little. Little opportunity to show true thankfulness. How much more glorious is the thankfulness that comes from the lips of those who are hurting. I think about how sad my little thanks is when compared to a thanks spoken from a suffering soul. I am thankful for my brother or sister who is suffering and yet in the face of it continues to glorify God the Creator. You are strong and I am weak. Thank you for showing me what it really means to be THANKFUL.

Pray for and support those He lays on your heart.
Matthew 25:40 “….Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to me.”