Every Day is a Day of Thanksgiving

By Shelia E. Lipsey

O give thanks to the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endures for ever (Psalm 136:1 AKJV)


Every day is a day of thanksgiving! Each year we set aside a special day to give thanks for all the wonderful things that have transpired in our lives during the past year. It is a time when most of us enjoy family and friends and loved ones while sitting at a table enjoying a feast of food. It is a time when we laugh and enjoy great fun and fellowship. But everyday should be a day of thanksgiving.

I know that for many of us, it may be hard to see anything to be thankful for, especially if we are in the midst and pangs of grief over losing a loved one. We may be in despair over losing a job, or having a home foreclosed, or we may be in physical pain due to grave illness. We may be troubled about a child who’s gone astray. There are so many things that happen from moment to moment that we can find to be unhappy about. Yet, in all things we should still give thanks. I didn’t say it was easy: I said in all things we should give thanks. Don’t misconstrue what I’m saying either. I did not say to be thankful for all things…I said to be thankful in all things.

Every day is a day of thanksgiving. Everyday though clouds hang low and there is trouble all around, there is still so much to be thankful for. In the midst of adversity, still give God thanks. In the midst of trials, still say ‘thank you, Lord for blessing me right now.’

I’m not telling you something that I am not willing to do myself. There are times I struggle with telling God ‘thank you’. But I praise God for the Holy Spirit that resides in me. The Holy Spirit sings love songs to God when this physical, carnal body is dragging along trying to live out the day set before me. The Holy Spirit sends up petitions on my behalf when I cannot find the strength to do it on my own. The Holy Spirit can and will do the same for you. You too can believe that every day is a day of thanksgiving.

God is a good God. He is worthy to be praised. He is worthy to be honored and adored. God is a God of love, mercy and forgiveness. He loves us in spite of our faults and shortcomings. He knows our pains and the desires of our hearts. He is ready to rescue us even in the midst of the worse turmoil.

There is so much good that God has done, is doing and will do. Take time to look back over your life and realize that it is God who has made you. You are not your own. You are His creation and He loves you. You are one of a kind. A treasure, an heir, a joint heir. You are of a royal priesthood. So stop and give thanks, not only on the day set aside to give thanks, but remember that ‘Every day is a day of thanksgiving.’

Remember and take blessed assurance in knowing that though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever. (2 Corinthians 4:16 NLT)