When some major event happens like a wedding, a birth, a promotion or a retirement we know we should be grateful and give thanks to God. There are certain annual events that prompt our thanksgiving such as the turning of the year, a birthday, or an anniversary. Should our thanks to God be confined only to such special events or should we have the same attitude of gratitude for the smaller happenings?
Why are we thankful
The major events represent so many things that thankfulness is the obvious response. If it is an anniversary then the passing of the year and all that transpired during the year is the reason for being thankful. If it is a once in a lifetime event, such as a birth or wedding, it may have been anticipated for years and thanks seems natural for all the waiting, work, and the success.
Strangely our thanks may not be genuine but a mild prolonging of the experience, for as we review the event in thankfulness we are reliving it.
God in the big stuff
It is easy to see God working in the big things. We experience something wonderful and know that God helped, there we see how he caused things to fall into place. We say to ourselves, "This was so big only God could have made it happen," or "I couldn't have done it without the Lord."
God in the little stuff
He is the same God who is working out the minor details of our lives as the major ones. We might find an extra coin in some corner of our home, it is small but God allowed you to see it and find it, so we should still be thankful. It may be a little bit of jelly in the back of the cabinet that we found unexpectedly which sweetens up a meal; God preserved the sweetness and allowed you to enjoy it so we should be thankful. It could be a cooling breeze on a hot day, a birdsong at dawn, or a child's kiss goodnight. All are gifts from the hand of the All-mighty, All-generous God, all are deserving of our thankfulness.
Ultimately Thankful
We should be thankful people not because we have so much to be thankful for or that we have many blessings but because of whom we are thankful to. It is not that we are thankful for the gifts but we are thankful for the giver of the gifts; be they big gifts or small in both cases we have a generous God.
