A Season of Thanks, Day 1

1863. America was in the throes of its civil war (Has there ever been another phrase so oxymoronic?) The climate of the times did not promote gratitude. President Abraham Lincoln, though, knew that people needed to remember not just how much was wrong, but how blessed they were.

In the opening words of his Thanksgiving Proclamation, he wrote:

The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God.

Even in the worst of times, God is watching over us. When things seems unfair, when life is hard, when the government and our coworkers and our own best intentions work against us, God is sovereign.

And so, in this first day of a season of giving thanks, I give thanks--as the Psalmist did--as President Lincoln did--for the ever watchful providence of Almighty God.

Give thanks to the Lord of Lords. His love endures forever.

Psalm 136:3