THANKSGIVING: Blessings in Disguise - What's Yours?

As Christians, we are thankful for the blessings God gives us throughout the year and our lives; however, we take special time to reflect on these blessings on Thanksgiving Day. Many families will go around the table telling each other what they’re most thankful for: family and friends, having a job or getting a new job, their health, their home, and many of the luxuries that make our lives easier or more fun. Hopefully, Christians include Jesus, our Savior, who gave us the greatest gift: salvation. These are things that are easy to be thankful for, especially if we’ve known life without them, but what are we missing? Can we look more deeply and consider things we often disregard as something to be thankful for?

The things we often forget are the things about ourselves and others that may not seem worth giving thanks for, because we cannot see how God might use them or how God can use even them to bless us. These things are less obvious but worth considering because God uses good and bad things in our lives to bless us!

Sometimes, losing a job, getting a disease, having a home burn down, losing a friend or family member, relationship problems, problems with mean kids at school, or any number of other things we wish didn’t happen, can be used by God to bless us. Thanksgiving is a great time to pause, reflect, and be thankful for things we might not have considered blessings in the moment. For example, when I found out I was diabetic, I was devastated, but not too long after that bad day, I look back and see that God turned it into a blessing. I feel better and am healthier than I would ever have been.

Things can always be looked at from different perspectives. Things that seem good to us may not be so good from God’s perspective, and things that seem bad to us may be used by God to help us grow closer to Him, which is always good.

Think for a moment about all the people God used in the Bible. No human is perfect, even if they’re in the Bible, but God chooses people for reasons beyond the worldly values we see and are proud of. He looks deeper. When Samuel was looking for a king to replace Saul, as he looked at David’s good-looking and strong older brother Eliab, God said to him, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart” (1 Samuel 6:7).

We often look at things from a worldly, materialistic point of view. We compare our lives to what we see around us, and that’s what we’re thankful for or wish we could change. However, God’s point of view is not about this world, but the next. It’s not about what we have, can earn, or do, but about what our heart and faith show. We are all as human as everyone in the Bible. We get up every day, put on our clothes, and, good or bad, do what we do. If you read about the people below in the Bible, you can see their mistakes — some seemingly more serious than others — but if you take a moment to look at it from a Thanksgiving point of view, you can see that we can learn from them as well.

This Thanksgiving, try to look at them, and then at the people in your life that may be hard to love sometimes, and then at yourself. What is negative in your life that you can learn from and God can use to teach you and bring you closer to Him?

This Thanksgiving, consider that in spite of the negative things in the people below, God used

• Abraham to remind us to hear God, listen, have faith, and follow Him, even when the path is unclear.
• Sarah to show us that faith grows slowly sometimes, and God doesn’t give up on us if we doubt.
• Jacob to show us that God meets us in our weakness, not in our perfection.
• Rebekah to remind us that we need to wait for God’s time and be content with His will.
• Joseph to teach us that even when life feels unfair and confusing, God is working for us in ways we can’t see, and is also working through us for the good of others.
• Moses to teach us that God equips those whom He calls through their doubts, fears, and failures; God can use a willing heart.
• Joshua to show us that success comes from courage, obedience, and trusting God’s promises, especially when the battle seems unwinnable.
• Ruth to teach us that faith is not just about belief, but about choosing love, integrity, and courage.
• Hannah to show us that we can trust God with both our grief and our gifts.
• Samuel to teach us that spiritual maturity begins with listening to God, who speaks to us through His Word.
• Saul to show us how arrogance, ambition, and pride can lead to partial disobedience, which is still disobedience.
• David, even as a man after God’s own heart, to teach us that even if we make very bad choices, God never leaves us because of behavior, and with true repentance, we can be restored.
• Jonathan to give us an example of true friendship.
• Solomon to warn us how easy it is to take and use God’s gifts to His glory, but through the danger of compromise, can still fall away.
• Nehemiah to teach us that when we have obstacles to overcome, we should start with prayer, stay focused, don’t listen to hecklers, and listen to God.
• Daniel to remind us that moral courage can thrive in hostile environments, and spiritual integrity can influence culture; it is possible to live boldly as Christians without losing our identity.
• Jonah to show us that we can disagree with God’s plan, but it’s not wise to ignore it or try to outrun His calling. Disobedience has consequences. Bitterness blocks joy. God is interested in your heart and your motivations.
• All of the believers through the ages who have passed down the faith through God’s Word and Sacraments, by living it, talking about it, and showing it, we can do that as well.

These are only a handful of the regular sinners in the Bible who have given us blessings in disguise. Our lives are filled with blessings that we don’t recognize: blessings in disguise. We may not recognize the wonderful blessings we receive from those in the Bible, or the blessings in disguise. We need to look for them because they’re usually things we think are negative and don’t see how God used them to bless us.

This year, when you’re going around the Thanksgiving table, instead of everyone telling each other that they’re thankful for family, friends, their job, a new car, etc. Ask them, “What has happened in your life this past year that turned out to be a blessing in disguise?” Give everyone a couple of minutes to find their blessing in disguise to share. Then try to hang on to those all year and keep looking for them. Thanksgiving is about being thankful for God’s unexpected blessings and blessings in disguise all year long. Keep looking. You’ll be surprised at how many you find.