Unshackled Moments ~ November 14 ~ Sorrowful Thanksgiving

This is the time of year when many focus on the aspect of Thanksgiving, and as we begin to review our blessings it's sometimes difficult not to bring up the other side of the  coin....Well, I have this in my life and that in my life and those and (but I don't have that, and I always wanted [fill in your own blank]. This sorrow can be hidden side of the Thanksgiving Season that we don't talk about. But sorrow can color a thankful heart. The two are not mutually exclusive.

The most beautiful sunsets are the ones with clouds in them.

Without the clouds the light doesn't get played with in such beautiful ways. Thanksgiving doesn't mean much without sorrow. Neither does joy. Joy and thanksgiving without hindrance are like the light of the sun reaching us on a cloudless day. Of course it's bright, there are no clouds. But when the light and glory of the sun burst through the clouds, when it not only overcomes the obstacles that it encounters but paints them and transforms them and makes them beautiful, we see the majesty and wonder of an awesome Master Artist, our Creator. Our breath stills as the heavens declare the glory of God. And when we see joy and thanksgiving burst  through the clouds of sorrow, pain, loss and dreams never realized they make the life of the thankful one more beautiful and awe inspiring than a majestic sunset. They paint the life with the glory of God.

Choosing to have a thankful heart does not disrespect or dismiss the just cause for sorrow in our lives. It does not diminish or make light of what we have been through, and it isn't about pretending the hard times never happened. It's about walking with God anyway, so that after suffering and even during suffering we continue to trust and follow God as the sun continues in its orbit no matter what storm may block it's light. It's about remembering that sooner or later every storm breaks, cloud banks thin, the light will break through. And the beauty of that light means more to us when it's been delayed or missing or must fight its way through the clouds, Oh wow, the sun! We say, after three days of rain. But after three days of sunshine we merely grumble as we search for our shades.

A thankful heart full of praise in the midst of sorrow and sadness is more beautiful to God than anything else we could bring to His altar, and it makes it possible for our lives to reflect His glory to others in a way that those who have not suffered loss can not. Even when we do not know what makes up the sadness and sorrow and loss someone has experienced, we can somehow sense a joy and thankful spirit that has been filtered with sorrow. It is more pure and beautiful.

So today and during this season of reflecting on being grateful for what we have, let us not shy away from acknowledging the losses and the never did haves in our lives. Let us not mistake acknowledging that it hasn't always gone our way and that some blessings are not and may never be ours with an ungrateful spirit. Let us not pretend but rather say

I do not have, I will not have, I have lost, but I know my Redeemer lives, the He loves me with an everlasting and unfailing love, and I am thankful even as I feel the ache of sorrow. 

Today, this season, and all the year, let us not dismiss or ignore sorrow, suffering and loss and push them out of our life to try to shine some false look at how wonderful life and God is; my life is great light, but let us shine our light through the clouds of our lives, not around them, and reflect the beauty of His love, comfort and joy in the midst of obstacles and difficulties. That is a true and meaningful sacrifice of praise. It's not a sacrifice if it has no cost. It doesn't give glory if it's easy.

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