Providence

 “Enter His gates with thanksgiving, and His courts with praise! Give thanks to Him; bless His name!” Psalm 100:4

In 1621, the Plymouth colonists and the Wampanoag Indians celebrated what we call the “first” Thanksgiving. It was indeed the first Thanksgiving for the beleaguered colonists on what would become American soil, but it was hardly the first Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving runs deeper than that.

Europeans had been celebrating thanksgiving for centuries. It was not a formal holiday, but a spontaneous response to victory in battle, an abundant harvest, or relief from drought. The colonists were merely following what they had known from their past experiences in Europe. For more than two hundred years in this nation, days of thanksgiving were celebrated at various times by individual colonies and later individual states. And yet, Thanksgiving runs deeper than that.

As it turns out, a woman is responsible for our national marathon of shopping, preparing, decorating, cooking, and baking. Sarah Josepha Buell Hale was a writer and editor of an influential women’s magazine. You have read her rhyme, “Mary Had a Little Lamb.” Yep, that Sarah Josepha Buell Hale. She wrote letters to several presidents over the course of more than 17 years, persistently petitioning for Thanksgiving to be declared a national holiday. In 1863 President Abraham Lincoln made it so. I think she wore him down like the unrighteous judge’s experience with a persistent woman (Luke 18:1-8)!

Deep within all the hoopla and food and tradition of Thanksgiving runs an innate thread of gratitude in the human heart. We know we have not earned what we so richly enjoy. There is a greater good overshadowing us and we are the blessed recipients of this bounty. Our forefathers called it Providence. It is God’s own divine guidance and care. All we have, and all we are, comes from His hand. This is the heart of Thanksgiving.

“You will say in that day: ‘I will give thanks to You, O Lord, for though You were angry with me, Your anger turned away, that You might comfort me. Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the Lord God is my strength and my song, and He has become my salvation.’ With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. And you will say in that day: ‘Give thanks to the Lord, call upon His name, make known His deeds among the peoples, proclaim that His name is exalted. Sing praises to the Lord, for He has done gloriously; let this be made known in all the earth…’” Isaiah 12:1-6.

Let us cultivate gratitude. Charles Spurgeon said, “You say if I had a little more, I should be very satisfied. You make a mistake. If you are not content with what you have, you would not be satisfied if it were doubled.” See the goodness of God toward you. It runs deeper, sweeter than the festive trappings of a holiday. It encompasses joy, salvation, abiding comfort, strength for any eventuality, and a glorious eternity opening before us.

See the goodness of God toward you and celebrate not the day, not the tradition, but celebrate God Himself. Enjoy your feast, enjoy your family, and enjoy God!

Father, there is none so lavish and generous as You. We are eternally grateful. Amen.