Good morning,
Are
we ready for the rush we call the rest of the year? Here in America
some of the stores have already been selling artificial Christmas trees
for months. This week we will be celebrating the Thanksgiving holiday
that started centuries ago with people who had risked their lives to
come to a place of freedom and peace. After a dangerous voyage, a
devastating winter and a difficult summer with lots of help from the
tribal indians, these determined people decided to have a celebration to
thank God for all that he had done for them during those stressful
times. They had learned the truth of Psalm 119:143 “As pressure and
stress bear down on me, I find joy in your commands.” They had learned
that the pressures of living and even of dying had taught them the joy
of knowing their loving God and Savior in new and wonderful ways. Life
was hard, but life with a living Savior was more than worth while.
Our
time in history is different and yet has many of the same challenges.
Our uncertainty at this point is not life and death, it is what will
happen next. In our time, this season fills our life so full of
activity we are left exhausted and depressed. We are surrounded by all
sorts of insecurity and warfare, some spiritual and some of the shooting
variety. We may not be starving to death, but our financial future
looks very much like falling over a cliff. We may have a form of
freedom, but we see all that we have counted on for the future fading
away. We are weary and carry heavy burdens. We are not a people at
rest. The news worth celebrating this Thanksgiving is that these are the
kind of pressures that teach us the faithfulness of God. When we obey
the leading of our Good Shepherd, when we look at life through what he
has done for us, when we look ahead to all that is waiting for us when
we get home and then we realize what a forgiving, gentle teacher is
leading us, then we will find rest in our souls. Our Savior is carrying
the heavy part of this time in our lives and he only asks us to carry
the light load of trusting him one day at a time until our work here is
done. May the Lord grant us thankful hearts during this time of greed
and fear.
Matthew 11:28 Then Jesus said, “Come to me,
all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you
rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble
and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my
yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”
Roy Wisner
