Today is 11/25/2021, Thanksgiving Day, and I received some excellent news from a friend of mine, Titus; you may know him. The platelets in his blood have increased from a 9 to a 43 and we are praying for a speedy recovery and rapid return home. He has been in the hospital for two weeks now, and we have had many conversations pertaining to the things of the Lord. One thing that we have talked about is being thankful. Thankful for the nurses at the hospital. Thankful for the prayer warriors that have constantly been praying for God to be glorified. Thanksgiving is often spent gathering around family and friends and enjoying yourselves with turkey, stuffing, yams (I like them), mash potatoes, other homemade dishes, and finally dessert. This year Titus, like many other Christians, will not be home with their families to gather and fellowship. Whether they are deployed with our armed forces, away on business, in a hospital, or for whatever reason are not with family. In these circumstances, anxiety tends to creep up, and in the world that we live in now, anxiety seems to be around every corner. So, as I sit here on this day, Philippians 4:6 comes to mind.
The life of Paul was full of situations that would cause anxiety in the strongest of today’s saints, and yet, in prison, he writes this. “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and pleading with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.” This is such a powerful verse. Paul issues two commands to the Saints in Philippi. First, he commands them not to be anxious about anything, but then he commands them to speak to God. He tells them to go to the Lord God Almighty. In today’s day and age, we tend to seek comfort in all the wrong places, but Paul knows right where to go, the presence of the Almighty God. While I could type many pages on this one verse I will only type a few.
In the past weeks, Titus and I have had many conversations, we have cried over the current situation. I am sure he has been angry. If not, I have, but when it comes down to it, we have both pressed each other to the Lord during this time. Why? Only in the fortress of the Lord can the believer truly find peace. It is the only place where the saints can seek a refuge that will never crumble, it is the only place that the children of God can cry out to their heavenly Father, and it is the only place where the prayers and supplications of those declared righteous will not fall on deaf ears.
Brothers and sisters, we have a lot to be thankful for. We have our salvation, which is a gift from God. We have our High Priest who can sympathize with us. We have the Great Physician who intricately knit us together in our mothers’ womb. We have an Almighty God in whom we can cast all of our fears and anxieties. One in Whom we can make known all of our requests. So, in this season of thanksgiving, whether you are feeling thankful or not, go to God and enter into a place of peace and comfort as you make all your request known. I pray that this encourages you in this season and that your faith is strengthened in the One True God. He is the only one that answers those requests. I leave you with some advice from Charles H. Spurgeon on bringing your requests to God:
“Cast your troubles where you have cast your sins; you have cast your sins into the depth of the sea, there cast your troubles also. Never keep a trouble half an hour on your own mind before you tell it to God. As soon as the trouble comes, quick, the first thing, tell it to your Father. Remember, that the longer you take telling your trouble to God the more your peace will be impaired. The longer the frost lasts, the more thick the ponds will be frozen. Your frost will last till you go to the sun; and when you go to God — the sun, then your frost will soon become a thaw, and your troubles will melt away. But do not be long, because the longer you are in waiting, the longer will your trouble be in thawing afterward. Wait a long while till your trouble gets frozen thick and firm, and it will take many a day of prayer to get your trouble thawed again. Away to the throne as quick as ever, you can. Do as the child did, when he ran and told his mother as soon as his little trouble happened to him; run and tell your Father the first moment you are in affliction. Do this in everything, in every little thing… take them all to God; pour them all out at once. And so by an obedient practice of this command in everything making known your wants unto God, you shall preserve that peace “which shall keep your heart and mind through Jesus Christ.”
Charles Spurgeon
Theological Digressions 