Grace Evangelical Society

P.O. Box 1308, Denton, TX 76202
  • About
    • Home
    • Beliefs
    • Staff
    • Board of Directors
  • Resources
    • Grace in Focus Blog
    • Grace in Focus International Blogs
    • Grace in Focus Radio
    • Grace in Focus Magazine
    • Free eBooks
    • Journal of the GES
    • Book Reviews
    • Partners in Grace Newsletter
    • Audio Messages
    • Videos
    • Email Subscription
    • Bookstore
    • Online Tracts
  • Store
    • Main Page
    • On Sale
    • Return Policy
    • Your Cart
    • Your Account
  • Events
  • Connect
    • Contact Us
    • Free Grace Church and Bible Study Tracker
    • Free Grace Jobs
    • Ministry Links
  • Donate
    • One Time Donation
    • Monthly Donation
    • Your Account
  • Search
Home
→
Grace in Focus Articles
→
Thanksgiving…With Tears

Thanksgiving…With Tears

November 1, 2015 by Phil Congdon in Grace in Focus Articles

Thanksgiving

“For we do not grieve as those without hope” (1 Thess 4:13).

Thanksgiving is a wonderful holiday, not just for turkey dinners and a day off work, but because it is an annual reminder — often overlooked but ever-present— that we have much to be thankful for. The one we are thankful to, of course, is God. Our culture largely ignores it, but it whispers in our hearts: Thank you, Lord, for Your bountiful goodness to us!

Last year, the real significance of God’s “unspeakable gift” to us was driven home for me in an unexpected way, a way that was mixed with tears. Glenn Easterly, a godly man and close friend, was suddenly taken home to be with His Lord. A few months later, my mother, a uniquely loving and godly woman, stepped across that threshold between time and eternity and into the arms of her Lord. And then, on the day before Thanksgiving, a dear sister in Christ, René Broughton, slipped from this life, to her eternal reward.

In each of these events, my tears have flowed and my thanks were given. It seems almost schizophrenic to be saying “Thank you” to God, and weeping at the same time, but it’s not. In fact, if I were not able to say “Thank you,” I don’t think I could weep. Deep inside our souls, we yearn for that eternity which God made us for. In this life, we’re stuck in time and space…and sin. Paul wrote that we “groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of the body” (Rom 8:23).

If not for God’s gift of eternal life (John 4:10; Eph 2:8-9), I wouldn’t weep in the face of death; I’d be in terror of it. But Thanksgiving, with its reminder of a God Who is good and Who gives, reminds me through my tears that those who believed in Jesus and who we have bid “Farewell” to in this life, are with their Savior and no longer bound by this life’s limitations. I’m not sad because I won’t see them again, but because I will! And I can hardly wait.

In 1 Thess 4:1, Paul reminded Christians that we “are not as those who have no hope.” In Rom 8:24-25, Paul speaks of hope again:

For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.

I love that. In the face of death, I am not hopeless. In fact, I am hopeful! I wait eagerly for what absence from the “body of this death” (Rom 7:24) will mean. I just can’t “see” it yet.

This year, Thanksgiving on this side of the veil is seasoned with tears, because I miss those who have gone on, and look forward to being with Christ, and being reunited with them.

Tears…tears of sadness, silver-lined with hope. That’s my Thanksgiving this year. And when your life journey leads you through the valley of the shadow of death, may it be yours, too.

____________________

Phil grew up in a large family (he has a dozen brothers and sisters) and he and his wife Jenny have a large family as well.

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
author_congdon

by Phil Congdon

Phil Congdon is Senior Pastor at New Braunfels (TX) Bible Church.

Cart

Recently Added

February 7, 2023

If You Throw Away or Abandon Your Faith, How Can You Still Be Saved?

Welcome to Grace in Focus radio. Today, Bob Wilkin and Ken Yates answer a question about “falling away from the faith.” What is the meaning...
February 7, 2023

Will the United States Be Excluded from Jesus’ Kingdom? 

Marguerite Galbraith, Sharon’s best friend, raised this interesting question. Many Evangelicals speculate that the United States will not be part of the Lord’s kingdom since...
February 6, 2023

What is the Difference in the “Follower of Jesus” and “Believer in Jesus”? Aren’t “Follower” and “Believer” Basically Synonyms? Also: Does Romans 11:35 Contradict the Doctrine of Eternal Rewards?

Welcome to Grace in Focus radio. Today and all this week, Ken Yates and Bob Wilkin are answering questions from listeners like you. What is...

Grace in Focus Radio

All Episodes

Listen to Stitcher

Listen on Spotify

Grace In Focus Magazine

Grace In Focus is sent to subscribers in the United States free of charge.

Subscribe for Free

The primary source of Grace Evangelical Society's funding is through charitable contributions. GES uses all contributions and proceeds from the sales of our resources to further the gospel of grace in the United States and abroad.

Donate

Bookstore Specials

  • Here Walks My Enemy: The Story of Luis (Paperback) $6.95 $3.00
  • Here Walks My Enemy: The Story of Luis (Hardcover) $13.95 $5.00
  • Inerrancy for Dummies $7.95 $5.00
  • The Journey of Faith $15.00 $9.00
  • Confident in Christ, 2nd Edition $22.00 $5.00
Grace Evangelical Society

(940) 270-8827 / ges@faithalone.org

4851 S I-35E Suite 203, Corinth, TX 76210
P.O. Box 1308, Denton, TX 76202

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube