Rejoice always. Pray continually. Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. I Thessalonians 5:16-18

People often struggle with knowing God’s will for their life. Well, this is one time when God makes His will crystal clear. Christian, do you want to be fully obedient to God’s will? Then rejoice, pray and give thanks — always. That’s right — no matter the difficulties and trials — rejoice, pray and give thanks.

As we approach Thanksgiving, and I reflect over this past year, I must confess that I have sometimes fallen short of this aspect of God’s will. Do I have excuses for my lack of thankfulness? You bet I do! Let me give you the short list:

I’ll begin with the pandemic that is wreaking havoc across the globe. How can this world be thankful while enduring a long season of sickness, death, division and loss?

Next on my list of excuses — politics. I’m not going to say anything more about it, because if I do, half of you will stop reading this article. That would be a shame, because this article is about something much bigger and far more important. How can our nation be thankful when we are so angry at each other?

Ecclesiastes 1:9 puts our current mess in perspective: What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. So true.

We have been in messes before. The Civil War lasted from 1861-1865. Four awful years. During the bloody conflict, hundreds of thousands of Americans were killed and wounded by their fellow Americans. It is estimated that 3,260,000 Americans took up arms against each other. I doubt that any of us can comprehend such division and devastation.

The Battle of Gettysburg took place July 1-3, 1863. It was the bloodiest battle of the war. Just three months later, on October 3, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national day of Thanksgiving to be celebrated on the last Thursday in November. How on earth did President Lincoln summons the strength and clarity necessary to be thankful during such an awful time?

The answer: He compiled a Thanksgiving list and then shared it with the nation in his proclamation. His actions and his words reveal a deep and abiding faith in “the Most High God”. Here is his proclamation in its entirety:

The year that is drawing toward its close has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever-watchful providence of Almighty God.

In the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign states to invite and provoke their aggressions, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere, except in the theater of military conflict; while that theater has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union.

Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defense have not arrested the plow, the shuttle, or the ship; the ax has enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege, and the battlefield, and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom.

No human counsel hath devised, nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy.

It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently, and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American people. I do, therefore, invite my fellow-citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a Day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens. And I recommend to them that, while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners, or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty hand to heal the wounds of the nation, and to restore it, as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes, to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility, and union.”

Friends, no matter how ugly life gets, there are always reasons to be thankful. Complaining and arguing over the pandemic and politics will simply rob you and your family of peace and love. Instead, rejoice in your blessings, pray over your loved ones, and give thanks in the midst of the mess. If you’re willing to follow God’s will, you and your loved ones will experience one of the best Thanksgiving holidays ever. This is my prayer and hope for you. Happy Thanksgiving!