Thankfulness!

Sunday afternoon, November 18, 2007
Earlier, when I was contemplating my message for today, thinking particularly about Thanksgiving, and specifically about the things for which I am most thankful, I found myself thinking of things like food, shelter, clothing, transportation, health, family, insurance, pensions—the things that make life easy and comfortable—and I am thankful for these things (very thankful!), don’t get me wrong; however, it didn’t take Him long to remind me that my “thinking” needed an oil change.
Once again, I do not want to be misunderstood and have you thinking that I am not grateful for EVERYTHING He provides for me that makes life comfortable and easy; the fact is I like “comfortable and easy” much more than I like the alternative . I have noticed, however, that He seems to be more interested in my knowing Him than He is in my living an easy and comfortable life, and I have also noticed that those who seem to know Him best are not among those who live easy and comfortable lives.
Now that I have had time to think about it, when I mention “easy and comfortable” I am really not thinking so much about enjoying things like sleeping between clean and warm sheets, or driving a nice car, or living in a nice house; instead, I am thinking more about being free from stress and worry and distraction and pain and frustration and disappointment—those things that seem to have the ability to make life anything but comfortable and easy.
Yes, I know that “good Christians” ought never experience stress or worry or pain or frustration or disappointment, even be distracted, which tells you what kind of Christian I am (according to the religious definition), which means (I suppose) that I just need to “get my life right with God” and, thus, end this perspective.
You might find this a bit strange, but my life is “right” with God (I am absolutely sure of this because Jesus did for me, what I could not do for myself), and I do have many of the things that most people believe will make their lives comfortable and easy—I am presently healthy, I live in a nice house, I drive a nice car (truck), I sleep between clean, warm sheets, I have insurance (life and medical), I have an incredible family, our pensions are in place, and I even have a house in the mountains of North Georgia—HOWEVER, I am NOT free from stress, worry, distraction, pain, frustration, or disappointment! The truth is this: over this past year these things have almost consumed my life.
Maybe you do not know this, so I will tell you: When these things consume your life it is not easy to enjoy the things that you thought would make your life comfortable and easy, which is probably why He brings them into our lives and causes them to consume us. He really is very interested in our knowing Him and finding ultimate fulfillment and pleasure in Him, and, I might add, He is relentless and reckless (at least in my opinion) in His determined pursuit.
It is not easy to write these words (it scares me to death, to tell you the truth), but here they are: At this Thanksgiving, I am most thankful for His determined and reckless pursuit of my knowing Him!
I find it interesting that Paul finally came to the place where he could say (with integrity) that it was his determined purpose to progressively become more intimately acquainted with Him (Philippians 3). All I know is this: He took Paul through some really tough times before these words became words of his heart—his passion (see 2 Corinthians 11:24-30).