Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Giving Thanks Day

This Sunday our preacher presented us with an extremely detailed catalog of the contents of her refrigerator and pantry. A list that, for the sake of the congo, could have been greatly abbreviated. Why do we have such a long litany of things to be thankful for? Is it because we recognize that all things are from God, or is it that so many of our desires are actually being met?
"Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them." Mark 11:24 KJV
Maybe we should also give thanks for those desires that appear to go unmet by the Lord and understand that when they are not met, it does not mean that our prayers have not been answered. Perhaps they will be answered in keeping with God's desire and not ours. Perhaps they will be answered much, much later.  Perhaps we haven't really been listening to hear the answer, or we were blind and did not see it.

The important thing is to keep on praying and never give up. Someday your eyes may be opened to, or your ears may hear, God's true response.

I reversed the usual order of the operative word for tomorrow's holiday in the title of today's post because I recently had one of those little experiences that most of you would write off as a dream, a personal experience, or a bit of difficult to digest food upsetting my sleep. Reading about other's personal "spiritual experiences" usually only arouses my skepticism, so instead of sharing mine, tomorrow I will merely pray a quiet,
"Thank you Lord for hearing and answering our prayers."   

4 comments:

  1. I give thanks unto you Triune; for the Magna Carta and a higher contemplation regarding libertarian free-will. Many a Calvinist approaches liberty and free-will in license or tyranny, thus claiming it is of no Godly use.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I for one would enjoy hearing your personal spiritual experiences. I think skepticism is natural, but it doesn't make them any less real for the person who experienced them.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks Aly,

    I guess those personal experiences do need to be discussed and confirmed or questioned by fellow believers, especially if they are causing personal problems.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I'm grateful for open dialog!

    ReplyDelete