For those of you living in the United States, do you “feel like” celebrating Thanksgiving this year? Or is your heart heavy, and the thought of trying to be thankful feels like work?

There are many reasons people feel heavy right now. For Leon and me, we’re dealing with the loss of his mom. It is a recent loss that still aches. This is our first Thanksgiving without her.

Many of you are in similar circumstances—painful situations that don’t necessarily “help you” feel celebratory. Maybe you’ve suffered a loss in your family or at your job. Maybe you’re going through a breakup, or you’re very aware that you’re still single. Maybe you’re struggling with deep fears, and you don’t know what to do. 

Whatever the reason your heart doesn’t feel like being thankful this week, Thanksgiving is a good time to remember that rejoicing in the Lord is a choice. It isn’t based on feeling.

“No, I am not going to allow despair to rule me. I am not going to allow the bad things happening in the world around me to steal my peace. I am going to be thankful instead. There are things I can be thankful for in my life, and I am going to celebrate.”

Beloved child of God, may you find the strength to shake off the heaviness and step into a new level of gratitude this week. May you be able to shut the door on any fear and despair and, instead, turn your eyes to the Lord and worship Him with thanksgiving.

A Place of Pure Joy

Every Thanksgiving celebration is an opportunity to encounter the beauty of the Lord and the pure joy that only He can give. That is a simple description of what His presence looks like: beauty and pure joy.

When we choose to be thankful, we allow our heart to be “wrapped in the comfort of heaven and woven together into love’s fabric,” like the Passion Translation talks about:

I am contending for you that your hearts will be wrapped in the comfort of heaven and woven together into love’s fabric. This will give you access to all the riches of God as you experience the revelation of God’s great mystery—Christ. (Col. 2:2 TPT)

Being thankful for Jesus—who He is and what He has done—allows us to live in love’s fabric, which is Jesus Himself. He is the perfect lamb who gave His life for us. Colossians and other books of the Bible tell us that He’s the divine portrait, the true likeness, of the invisible God.

As we realize more and more what this means and how it applies to us, as well as to our significant relationships, the thankfulness in our heart grows.

There is a reason He is beautiful, and there’s a reason He’s pure joy.

A Deep Well of Love

The Holy Spirit inside us is like a well filled up with the Father’s love.

Living in His love isn’t an experience reserved for only those who “make it,” but it is for all of us. You, your family, and your significant other get to experience this well of love:

I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. (Eph. 3:16–19 NIV)

Whenever we acknowledge with a sincere heart that we are thankful to God for Him—that we love who He is and what He’s doing in our life—we will see more of Him. That’s what being thankful does: It allows us to enter His presence and see Him more clearly (Ps. 100:4).

If it’s been a while since you’ve “seen” the Lord with your heart and emotions, ask Him to speak to you—and understand that He will answer this prayer. He is all about relationship with His kids. This includes you, and He knows how to give you good gifts. 

A Discovery of “Hidden Treasures”

One amazing—and perhaps unexpected—part of thanksgiving is that it leads us to discover hidden treasures in our relationship with God, as well as with our significant other:

For our spiritual wealth is in him, like hidden treasure waiting to be discovered—heaven’s wisdom and endless riches of revelation knowledge. (Col. 2:3 TPT)

The Lord says that when we call to Him, He will show us unsearchable things—things we don’t know, mysteries, revelations (Jer. 33:3). 

Spending time with Jesus and being thankful for Him will fill you with more of Him. The world likes to say, “Tell me who you hang out with, and I’ll tell you who you are.” That is true of you and Jesus. If you “hang out” with Him, you will become more like Him and—consequently—you will have even more to be thankful for.  

The thanksgiving of God doesn’t always look like the thanksgiving of the world. Sometimes it’s a “hidden treasure” that leads you to discover even more hidden treasures.

Not a Season for Wavering

All of us have concerns and cares right now, but this is not a season for wavering in our faith. So let’s really thank God for who Jesus is. Let’s rejoice—on purpose—because of His heart, His nature, His joy, and the amazing things He’s doing.

Leon and I, along with our wonderful BTO team, pray that you will have a beautiful Thanksgiving and enjoy with great pleasure the Savior’s love.

Does your heart need to remember who God is? Other articles from Salomé Roat and Becoming the One:

• 2 Steps to a Great Relationship: Praying Together and Being Thankful

• Why Community Is a Gift

• Single or Married, Here’s One Way to Change Your Community

• How God’s Love Can Help You Answer Your Dating Questions

For more information on sex, marriage, and finding the person who is right for you, get a copy of Becoming the One by Salomé Roat. Click here to learn more. The book is also available in Spanish.