November 24, 2010
Donna is no stranger to the H.o.P.E: she is beloved by many of the people who have come to really appreciate her and her music on Wednesday night. She was up front for an entirely different reason: Her young adult son had had some scary news regarding his health. Yet his faith and his family’s faith remains strong. For now, Donna needed the prayers of her H.o.P.E family and they responded in unison. As they surrounded her and mothers in the congregation held her in their arms, it felt like the best place to be on Thanksgiving eve!
Around the Fall, the Israelites celebrated a holiday not unlike Thanksgiving. The season is associated with the harvest and God’s provision. There was another reason to be thankful. The Festival of Tents or Tabernacles was for thankfulness. It was instituted in Leviticus 23.
The purpose of this Festival or Feast was celebrate God’s faithfulness to them while in they were wandering in the desert. They lived in temporary homes in the light of a more permanent one in the Promised Land.
How can we give thanks when times are hard? Even while we are in temporary dwelling place, we celebrate because God is faithful and is preparing for us something much more lasting. I heard once that Psalm 27 was recited during that time. My favorite passage of the Bible is Psalm 27:4. It has new meaning now beyond a simple longing to see the God. And then there is verses 5 and 6:
For in the day of trouble
he will keep me safe in his dwelling;
he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent
and set me high upon a rock.Then my head will be exalted
above the enemies who surround me;
at his sacred tent I will sacrifice with shouts of joy;
I will sing and make music to the LORD.
We “made music” with Calvary’s Light and they sang of peace and flowers that one day won’t fade. We gave our thanks for what God will do.
An unexpected prayer request came from a Jenny. During her Bible Study with Pastor Ron earlier that day, she revealed that she had just found out that her doctor had told her that nothing could be done for her. He told her that she would die from cancer. She spoke of her faith in God and said that she wished she had spent more time being thankful.
It’s never too late with God. That’s the beauty of Him. So she gave thanks for her family, her fiance, for her friends and for Jesus. And she said thank you for the breath of life in her tonight, and another chance to say that God had been good to her. We sang a scripture song borrowing the words at the end of Psalm 27:
I would have lost heart, unless I had believed
That I would see the goodness of the LORD
In the land of the living.Wait on the LORD;
Be of good courage,
And He shall strengthen your heart;
Wait, I say, on the LORD!
Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!
-Pastor Sabine
