Live in Thanksgiving Daily
- itcametopass
- Nov 21, 2018
- 4 min read
Thanksgiving is a time not only for us to stuff ourselves with as much turkey as we want and
watch football all day, it’s also a great time for us to look at our lives and give thanks for the
blessings in our lives.
The commandment for us to give thanks to God in all things has existed since Old Testament times. Near the end of the book of Psalms, the writer tells that we must “sing unto the Lord with thanksgiving” (Psalms 147:7) and for “every thing that hath breath [to] praise the Lord.” (Psalms 150:6) Later on, during the years before Christ’s coming in the Book of Mormon, Amulek told the people who had been cast out from the Zoramites to “live in thanksgiving daily, for the many mercies and blessings which he doth bestow upon you.” (Alma 34:38)
In this life, we have plenty of things to be thankful for, from membership in the Lord’s Church to the accessibility of scriptures to our friends and loved ones. I could list more, but then this whole post would take 30 minutes to read. The point is, we all have many things in our lives to give thanks for. Yet, as much as we have to be thankful for, there may be one thing in our lives that we may not immediately want to give thanks for: our various challenges and trials.
Heavenly Father loves us enough that He blesses with the things we need in this life, yet He also loves us enough to go through the challenges we do in our daily lives in order to grow more and become closer to Him and His Son. Why then, if He has an immeasurable love for us, does He allow us to experience those trials and why should we be grateful for them? The answer is simple: not to frustrate or make us depressed, but to help us get to a point where, as Elder Ulisses Soares described, “the Lord will increase our capacity to raise ourselves above the challenges of life.”
Our trials, though painful and disheartening when they occur, are not stumbling blocks, but
rather stepping stones as we go from one point in our lives to the next, becoming better and
closer to God in the process. President Dallin H. Oaks said, “If we understand the Lord’s
teachings and promises, we will learn and grow from our adversities.”
An example from my time in high school exemplifies this principle greatly. When I was a
sophomore, I auditioned for the spring musical, thinking that it was a sure thing that I would get in considering how big the cast was and how well I knew most of the people involved. Sure, I wasn’t the most talented or skilled, but I thought I did enough to get a spot in the cast. After weeks of waiting, the cast list finally came out. With the large cast, I had to look for a little while to find my name. I couldn’t find it initially, but I thought, “There were so many names and so many people looking at the same time. I probably just missed it. I’ll look again.” So I did, and again, no luck. I looked for a few more minutes after the initial crowd thinned out and finally realized that I wasn’t chosen. Naturally, I was devastated. I thought I had done enough and could improve during the leadup to the production. I couldn’t understand why after I had done so much and prayed for the help to make it, I felt like my prayers hadn’t been answered.
Looking back on that experience and what has happened in my life since then, I realize that
Heavenly Father was watching me and has blessed me so much more in the years past,
particularly with the scholarship I currently have at Weber State. To this day, I still thank
Heavenly Father for that experience and everything else He has blessed me with since then.
As much as I could describe this feeling of Thanksgiving, I think a well-known hymn
exemplifies the idea better in its lyrics: “When upon life’s billows you are tempest tossed, when you are discouraged, thinking all is lost, count your many blessings; name them one by one, and it will surprise you what the Lord has done.” (You probably just sang that in your head, didn’t you?)
President Russell M. Nelson said, “Each day, ours is the challenge to access the power of the
Atonement so that we can truly change, become more Christlike, and qualify for the gift of
exaltation and live eternally with God, Jesus Christ, and our families. For these powers,
privileges, and gospel gifts, thanks be to God!” Even after the Thanksgiving holiday is over, we should maintain as President Monson said, an “attitude of gratitude.”
Finally, if you want to watch a humorous and inspirational Mormon Message about
Thanksgiving, here you go: In the Spirit of Thanksgiving.
I hope you all have a happy Thanksgiving break and holiday with your family, friends, and other loved ones.
-- Ian
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