Weekly Prayer Posts from Thailand

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

With all that everyone has gone through this year, it seems like it is a bit much to ask anyone to break out in song and dance! Yet, that is precisely what God encourages us to do! Nangsar and I have been to three villages this month to participate in their Thanksgiving services, and everyone of these celebrations included a lot of song and dance presentations! On Saturday, we will go to yet another village to share in a Thanksgiving service with God’s people. Christians here (especially in the villages) express their gratitude to God with lots of singing! Judging from all the scriptures we have that instruct us to come before the Lord through praise and thanksgiving, people in the Bible must have been very grateful people.

The Psalms are especially full of admonitions to worship God through song and thanksgiving.

“I will praise God’s name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving.”

Psalm 69:30

“Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song. For the Lord is the great God, the great King above all gods. In his hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to him. The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land. Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker; for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care …”

Psalm 95:1-7

“Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.”

Psalm 100:1-5

This year’s Coronavirus Pandemic has taken its toll on many of us. We have arrived at a place where we no longer can make sense of anything. Everything has become very distorted. Not only are things turning out to be the opposite of what they appear to be on the surface — we are increasingly becoming aware of the fact that nothing is ever going to be the same again! This growing realization has been hard to process. Our patience is getting sorely tested, and we are fast becoming emotionally exhausted! What are we supposed to do?

All we can do is to hang in there — and keep trusting God to bring us through this patch of rocky ground! The Psalms remind us that “the Lord is good, and His love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations.” This is the trustworthy promise that we can cling to in these trying times. Our circumstances may change, and our fortunes may evaporate into thin air — but God’s promise to care for us as a shepherd looks after his sheep is an everlasting commitment that our Father has made to us — His children!

We do not know what tomorrow will bring. So much is happening around us, and most of it is beyond our control. What we do know however, is that God is in control — and He has a plan for our lives.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

Jeremiah 29:11

This is why we are grateful to God — this is why we give thanks on this Thanksgiving day. Our hearts overflow with thanksgiving because of God’s goodness to us. God’s steadfast love — His protection, and His provision — are the anchor that secures our faith.

May each of us take the opportunity to count our blessings as we celebrate this Thanksgiving in whatever way we can. May God’s blessings be upon each of you throughout this season.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Love,