thankfulness during uncertainty

We give thanks to you, O God;

we give thanks, for your name is near.

We recount your wondrous deeds.

Psalm 75:1

2020 gives us the chance to know a Thanksgiving holiday like none other in recent memory. The celebration here at the Burch home will be more subdued and sadly the first now of many not to include any members of the generation before mine. They are all gone from our lives now. And so my perspective has changed and I must take a new role to the next generation in my own home.

Our kids are adults and will be “coming home” to us for dinner for the first time as well. After decades of being the ones who “came home” or had dinner with family who lived day to day with us, this feels quite different. And in keeping with all the pandemic strangeness, our family feels it is best to keep Thanksgiving small. And with all the political puzzling and chaos, it feels like a weird time for us to be thankful. But I am seriously considering reading Psalm 75:1-7 around our table before we offer up our thanks. Seriously... it seems to speak to these divisive and uncertain times so well! 2020 stands a chance of being a landmark holiday year.

There are two clues as to how to be thankful in unsettled times right here in the very first verse of Psalm 75. CLUE 1: God is still near. Asaph wrote this psalm in a time when Israel was threatened by boastful, self-centered leaders and enemies (see Psalm 75:4-6 for this insight). Yet God was near and it is He Who steadies us in tottering times (Psalm 75:3). His justice is perfect when injustice seems rampant (Psalm 75:2). CLUE 2: God’s past deeds provide perspective. When the present feel uncertain, trust God, and remember what He has already done! A God-led past steadies our view of an uncertain present and gives assurance for a God-directed future.

Lord Jesus,

You are near. You will never leave us or forsake us. Thank You that You are God Who came near! We are never alone. You have not left us as orphans but forever made a way for us to be in You through Your cross. And You are in control. Your victory over death, Your teaching that gives us life, and Your Holy Spirit in Your Church encourage us in these uncertain days to trust only You!

Amen