THANKSGIVING IS A CHOICE

We all have so many blessings for which to render thanks, and Scripture is clear that we are always to give thanks. But what can we do when we find ourselves deeply discouraged or in distress during the Thanksgiving Season? Must we fake a thankful heart in order to obey this Scriptural directive? 

Paul is not encouraging us to fabricate feelings of gratitude. Being thankful always involves a choice, not necessarily a feeling. When you think about it, Paul’s entire ministry involved making the choice to rejoice, even as life beat him down again and again. How did he persevere so successfully? Paul knew God’s endgame. He knew Jesus Christ would be manifested powerfully through his deathly experiences, and that God would cause many hopelessly lost people to become wealthy in Christ because of his struggles.  
 

All the King’s Horses Ministry has operated for five full years. God has given us a platform fraught with sorrows from which we are making many rich. We now have a proven legacy of reaching broken people with the Gospel. Many of these dear broken ones have fallen deeply through the cracks in this dark world, and they have all but given up hope. They would never even think to darken the doors of our churches to seek hope. Yet they are drawn to Jesus through our Ministry. Why? 

As President and founder of this Ministry, I am a broken person too. God has anointed me as a broken vessel to tell a powerful story about raising a broken, brain-injured child; a story about holding a broken, hurting family together as a struggling single father. These struggles nearly killed me, and I refuse to offer easy answers in my writing, preaching, teaching or counseling. I will continue to offer the grace of Jesus Christ, knowing that His grace alone is sufficient to enable any broken person to face any impossibility. 

I have seen my son’s inspiring story cause the hearts of even the most cynical, hardened, committed “non-religious lifers” to become tender. Even so, it is not enough to inspire them by depicting how my son overcame the odds life stacked against him. They need to know that when all the king’s horses and all the king’s men can’t put their shattered dreams and broken lives together again, there is a King who can. Indeed, they need to know King Jesus, the One for Whom nothing is ever impossible. . 

There is no fairy-tale, Hollywood ending depicting “victory” in my story, and God also uses this reality very powerfully in making others rich. In many ways my family story is becoming even harder as the years roll by, as my son battles against potential blindness and my age and personal health issues make it more difficult to care for him. I will continue being honest about the anguish involved in my journey, and I will continue rejoicing that many broken people are being drawn to the Savior through my ongoing struggles and tribulations.