As we move through a new year and a new November, as we often do, I can’t help but meditate on giving thanks and what that means.

Is it just something we say, or can it be deeper than that, deeper than a simple response. Can giving thanks mean that we are ready to have joy in all things? Can this mean that we choose to recognize the hand of the Father in the midst of everything?

You see, the thing is, gratitude can become hollow very quickly when we talk about ourselves, our wants, our needs, and our desires. We serve a God who has a much greater plan and a much greater perspective than we do. What I have come to the conclusion is that we can receive all the blessings we can bring, but become so insensitive to the goodness of God that we forget to enter into true thanksgiving.

We forget who He is and the incredible joy we can receive through Him, in the face of drought, despair, riches and provision. The fact we all have to face is that God is always good, and when you see that, it can be precisely what takes away the excitement when we see His mighty hand at work in our lives. We see this in the book of 1 Kings, chapter 17.

During a great drought in the land, the prophet Elijah appears before a widow and her son, preparing the rest of their food, ready to eat and die, but through Elijah, God performs a miraculous feat in which flour and the oil does not flow. outside for days or even weeks. But she does not see the blessing in its full extent, her son falls ill and dies.

As she cries out to the Lord, Elijah prays and brings the boy back to life. His response is: “Now I know for sure that you are a man of God and that the Lord truly speaks through you. » (1 Kings 17:24 NLT)

Wasn’t the fact that the flour never ran out a sign? Was not the oil that flowed each day a miracle sufficient to give thanks, to know the holiness of God? You see, she became numb to the blessing, until tragedy struck. My take to you as you read today is this: Will you allow your heart to be grateful and see God in all things, or will you need a tragedy to see the goodness of God?

We have a choice each day, to rejoice in who our King is now and forever, or we can choose to see Him and forget as quickly as we forget a thought, what do you choose today, in the midst of joy, in the midst of struggle, in the midst of a movement of God that is happening in your life right now, I proclaim: be thankful, in all things, at all times.

Justin Gardner is pastor at River of Life Fellowship, 702 Church St., Sandpoint. The church can be contacted at 208-255-7111.