Happy Thanksgiving from Italy!! Even though it always amazes me how many people don’t know that Italy doesn’t celebrate this holiday. It saddens me too, because it means that many people, even in North America, don’t seem to know the history of Thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving is a distinctly North American holiday, inspired by celebrations of the Pilgrim Fathers. So, considering that Italy never had pilgrims or Native Americans, how could it have the holiday?
According to history, William Bradford, the governor of the Pilgrims’ Plymouth Colony, documented the celebration in his journal. (Learn more at History.com.) After a bountiful harvest, he proclaimed a special day to give thanks to Almighty God for all His blessings.
I wish that Americans, and people everywhere, would once again begin to observe Thanksgiving as a day to truly give thanks to God. Our disintegrating societies need to turn to God more than ever. We need to realize how merciful gracious God is to us all and how much we need to bow down before Him in true gratitude.
As wonderful as the big meals are, I wish that Turkey Day would be forgotten. I’d like the football games of Super Bowl Day to take second place.
I wish hearts everywhere would overflow with praise, and thanksgiving for all that God has done. Even though we are unaware of so many of His marvelous acts.
Yet, some people are asking these days, “Thanksgiving? What do we have to be thankful for in these difficult times?”
Thanksgiving? In these uncertain times?
How can we give thanks when the world seems to be crumbling around us? With death and war and suffering all around us? How can we be thankful when fear fills our hearts and minds?
We live in a hard world in which evil and ugliness are on the rise. Clear signs, most surely, that Christ’s return is drawing near.
People ask how a just God can allow evil to continue. And the answer is that He’s only allowing it for a time, waiting for people to turn to Him. The day will come when He will put a stop to it But until that day comes, how can we celebrate Thanksgiving in a world gone so wrong?
We can take heart from King David
The LORD is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life—of whom shall I be afraid?
Psalm 27:1
One answer lies in the encouraging words of King David. David knew fear. He knew what it meant to be beset on all sides. In fact, scholars believe that David wrote Psalm 27 while he was in exile, cast out and abandoned. His son tried to take the throne. Enemies pursued and threatened him from all sides. David had indeed reached a low point.
Yet, he celebrated with songs of praise. “I will sing and make music,” he declared. “I will continue to seek the face of God.” How could he do it?
He knew that the Lord protects, hides, and keeps us safe. The Lord answers our prayers, helps us, and is good to us. And Even if everyone else abandons or rejects us, the Lord never will. He will continue to protect us. David had seen all this and more many times in his life.
He knew that the Lord is a shelter in and during the storm. He is a strong fortress in times of trouble. He is a hiding place in a world gone awry. This enabled him to trust in God, both now and in the future. He declared that he would always give thanks and praise God, come what may.
Like David, let’s thank the Lord for His faithfulness, care and, protection—past and present. But let’s also thank Him for the future! He will never abandon us and never leave us hopeless—and that’s something to be truly thankful for! The best is yet to come!
Do not let your heart envy sinners, but always be zealous for the fear of the LORD. There is surely a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off.
Proverbs 23:17-18
20 replies on “Thanksgiving for the Future”
Thank you, Sheila. We are into December already but reading this today brings on Thanks for me. More reasons to Thank our Father GOD than I can count all day, every day.
And thank you for writing. Love to you my Friend.
So true, Kathie. We could never run out of reasons for thanking the Lord. Love to you, too!
Oh, Psalm 27:1 is one of my life verses, yet I never connected it with Thanksgiving. I picture David hiding out with his men in the cave, surrounded by Saul’s army, and receiving these words from God as encouragement, both to himself as well as us. What a great application. Happy belated Thanksgiving to you both.
That’s one of the things that makes God’s Word so amazing! It has so many facets. And we can never fully grasp all its greatness!
Our Heavenly Father has built into the acts of gratitude and praise a response of joy in our hearts. And you’ve given us a worthwhile starter-list of things we can be thankful for, Sheila, even when circumstances are difficult. How short-sighted we are to forego the benefits of gratitude.
So true, my dear friend. I read a quote lately, but I don’t remember where. “If you have an attitude problem, you have a gratitude problem.” So often our difficulty is not so much the difficulties we encounter, but our attitude in them. Gratitude lifts us above them and our gratitude list could and should be endless!
Wise words, Sheila–thank you!
❤
Like Psalm 107 instructs us to do, let us give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! His faithful love endures forever. Let’s praise the LORD for His great love and for the wonderful things He has done for us.
Sheila, may you and Mario rejoice in God’s great love and works in and through you.
Thank you! Let us give thanks and praise to God all the time!
Beautiful message, Sheila! My daughter Lilly brought her roommate home from university for Thanksgiving, and her roommate is from the Philippines. So we got to explain to her the reason for our holiday and include her in our celebration of God’s goodness. :) It has been a fun time.
Oh, that is fun, Linda! We have enjoyed introducing friends and neighbors to Thanksgiving through the years. We no longer do a home celebration, but church has a Thanksgiving outreach. What better way to reach out than with good food and a message on the reason for our hope and gratitude?!
That sounds amazing!
It is!!
Do you go ahead and celebrate Thanksgiving while in Italy? You have very appropriate post for our times. Things are bad in many places but we still have hope.
No, we stopped celebrating Thanksgiving after our kids grew up and moved away. Hubby has usually had to work, plus it’s a lot of work to go to just for the two of us. But our church does a Thanksgiving celebration as a means of outreach. What better way to reach out than by sharing the reason for our hope and all that God has done? So we do enjoy a Thanksgiving dinner – just prepared by many willing hands!!
Truly that is the best kind.
We love it, and so do the folks who come as guests!
David understood pain and trauma better than most, but he also knew what it meant to rely on the Lord and not be afraid. I know I can learn much from his resilience and humility. Thanks for this wonderful reminder of what we need to make us whole and full of joy–a heart of genuine gratitude.
Yes, David did understand pain and trauma better than most. Perhaps that’s the secret of why his Psalms touch hearts in such a deep way. And for me, at least, lift my heart to a place of rejoicing and thanksgiving!