Thanksgiving as a Superpower
Scripture commands us over and over again to give thanks. Mostly we are told to give thanks to the Lord, Who is most deserving of our gratitude for His manifold blessings. However you look at it, the instruction is clear: we are meant to live thankful lives, and generally, we agree this is a good practice.
What I love about the commandments of God is that they are accompanied by blessings over and above our initial act of obedience. This is true of thanksgiving. While it is right to be thankful and it often makes us feel good, the act of thanksgiving also releases substantial power into our lives — the kind of power that shifts things. This is the “superpower of thanksgiving.”
The first shift that happens is a shift of our position. Psalm 100:4 tells us to “Enter the gates of the Lord with thanksgiving and his courts with praise.” This is a command to be thankful, and with it comes access — access to the courts of the Lord. Thanksgiving moves us from where we are into the very Presence of God.
Even in the midst of struggle or storm, when we turn to the Lord with thanksgiving, we can experience the peace and comfort of His Presence. A greater reality takes over. Although our circumstances may not change, where we stand in the midst of those circumstances will. Alexander MacLaren once wrote, “True peace comes not from the absence of trouble, but from the presence of God.” Thanksgiving brings us into His Presence.
Now, when our position shifts so does our vantage point. We are able to see our situation with fresh eyes. We view things from a different angle. We are standing with the Lord and can share His perspective.
Pastor Scott Savage began practicing gratitude in the midst of some very difficult challenges. He writes, “I discovered that thanksgiving didn’t change my circumstances. However, giving thanks did reinterpret my circumstances. Instead of only seeing the adversity, I saw the ways God was providing gifts on a daily basis.” Thanksgiving offers us new lenses with which to see; it shifts our perspective.
And finally, gratefulness shifts our posture. When we come into the Presence of God and see things from a renewed perspective, we can stop partnering with doubt, worry, and fear. No longer twisted up with anxiety or bent over and weighed down with burden, we become untangled.
Philippians 4:6-7 describes this shift beautifully. “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
There’s that superpower again! Thanksgiving unburdens us from our anxious thoughts, brings us into a place of peace, and guards us from further assault. Thus our posture changes from being flattened, bent down, and run over by our difficulties to being uplifted and resting in the peace and protection of our God.
As the Thanksgiving season arrives, what are you most in need of, Dear One? A shift of position? A shift of perspective? Or a shift of posture? Wonderfully, a thankful heart will bring you all three. That is the superpower God offers to us through the quite simple act of thanksgiving. May you discover these blessings afresh and enjoy them day by day.
A Prayer
Dear Lord, I am thankful. Although sometimes I have a hard time seeing my blessings, today I am thankful for all of them. Thank You for the ways that You love me. Thank You for the ways that You take care of me. Thank You for the ways that You protect me. Thank You that You are always with me. Thank You that I will never run out of things to thank You for. May I always live a life of thanksgiving!
In Jesus’s Name, Amen.
