Reflecting on God's Unchanging Goodness: A Thanksgiving Testimony of Gratitude

“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” James 1:17 (NIV) 

Thanksgiving is a day to have an excuse to get out the extra-large pants, overeat on the great food that's prepared, and splurge on lots of dessert! It is also a day to look back on the year and reflect on the experiences and things that made it a good one, or to remember all the things that have happened throughout our lives that show that God is good. 

I am someone who often sees the negatives before the positives in life. Call me a cup-half-empty type, if you like. However, I have come to think of thankfulness as something that should not just happen once a year, but every day, and that there is always something we can be thankful for. 

As I scroll through social media, I see people posting something they are thankful for every day of November. I love that! Every year, I think that I want to do that the following year and then forget until it's already November and I feel behind. 

I could write a book about the things I’m thankful for, but here in this devotional moment, I am going to share the three main things I am grateful for that have shown me how good God is to someone who never deserved it. 

First, God! I grew up with a Christian mom. I am and will always be grateful that my mom took me to church from the first week I was born, even though Dad didn’t attend until he later became a Christian. That is how I came to know Jesus at the age of eight. Throughout the years, my relationship with God became my own, and not just a reflection of my mom’s, and I have grown to know and love Him more as I spend time with Him and learn through experiencing Him. 

It is still amazing and humbling to me that, before we even had breath, God thought of you and me and made a way for us to be reconciled to Him. “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:6-8 (NIV).

Wow! To think, how many of us see ourselves as unlovable and less than, but the Creator of the Universe, the One who holds all things together, the First and the Last, the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, loved us so much as to leave everything He had to enter this dark world to live in human form. He then experienced everything we do, including temptation, and then gave His very life for us. I cannot even describe how incredible God is and how thankful I am that He paid such a steep price for me.

Second, my family. I have the family of origin, which I love and am grateful for the lessons I have learned and continue to learn from them, but I also have my immediate family. 

This family started when I was not living at my best. I was looking for love in all the wrong places. Dan also wasn’t living the life he knew he should be. Even in the middle of the messes we were making of our lives, God brought us together. One morning in church, I knew what I was doing was wrong, and I had an emptiness in my heart and had no direction. I needed more God, and I’m sure I prayed about that, but I also included a prayer for a man, not just any man, but the right man. I had specific things I wanted that man to have, and I told God about them. That very night, Dan, who has all of those qualities and more, walked into our church as the service was about to begin. It took a month or so for us both to catch on to God’s plan, but the next thing we knew, we were dating, then engaged, and then married, all within about a year.

It was also years later before I recognized the grace of God in that situation. As a sinner, God gave me a good gift that led me back to Him. “The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.” 1 Timothy 1:14 (NIV). It is also amazing that we have made it this far, given that I was only 19 and Dan was 23 when we got married, and we both had a lot of maturing to do and had to learn that God had to be number one for both of us.

Because of this gift, I have also had two children and a family of in-laws that are such an incredible blessing to each of us.

I could also talk about my church family, but I will keep it short for time's sake. A church family is such an essential blessing in the lives of Christians. They share your joys and pains and have your back when you are struggling. They will pray with and for you, challenge you, encourage you, and be the hands and feet of Christ when you need it most. I am grateful for mine.

Third, my country. Being an American is a privilege. Yes, we have our issues, and I am discouraged by the amount of friction in our country. However, we also have freedom of speech, freedom of worship, and due process, to name just a few of the benefits. This is because we have had men and women who were willing to put their lives, many of which paid the ultimate sacrifice, on the line to fight for the freedoms that we have, and we were founded on biblical principles by people who had a vision for what a great country could and should look like. We are incredibly blessed, and I can’t think of any place I would rather live. 

I hope this has sparked reminders of things you can be thankful for and of God’s hand in your life, not just on Thursday but throughout the year!

God is so good! Happy Thanksgiving!

Reflection Questions

1. Looking at James 1:17, what gifts in your life do you see as from God, even if they felt ordinary or challenging at first?
   

2. From Romans 5:6-8, how has Christ's death, while we were still sinners, reshaped how you see your own worth and past?
   

3. What specific lesson or blessing from your family (origin, immediate, or church) reminds you of God's faithfulness through tough times?
   

4. Amid our nation's divisions, how can you personally thank God for its foundations while praying for unity?
   

5. If you are a "cup half empty" person, what small shift can help you spot positives daily and make gratitude an ongoing practice?
   

6. Today, what's one thing you are thankful for that reveals God's unchanging goodness?