Thanksgiving day, 2004. Actually a more appropriate name for this day would be “Will of God Day”. Ever wonder, with longing in your soul, what in the world (or beyond) is God’s will for you? Whenever you get confused about this think of the verse that says “In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” This may be the one day of the year that more people are doing God’s will than any other. I know there are the high thinkers who claim that God’s will is being done nomatter what since we don’t really have free will at all. (Like the fight you had with your wife or the way you beat your kid the other night or the way you hit on that married waitress after your fourth beer wasn’t really you. No it was actually God that cursed at your daughter and got you addicted to internet porn. You were just an unwitting pawn in God’s grand game of Sovereignty Solitaire. Ok, whatever.) Jesus emphatically said that we ought to pray that “Your will be done on earth just as it is in Heaven.” If His will is that nobody would perish but that all would come to repentance and yet the Bible teaches that some (most, in fact) will actually perish, then we can correctly deduce that He has entrusted us with a certain level of responsibility to actually make a conscious decision to DO His will. (All the hyperCalvinists gasp at once) Sovereignty and responsibility are not opposing terms. Can we agree that God has made a sovereign choice to allow us the power and authority to choose to do His will? Then what is it that we’re supposed to do? In everything give thanks. So happy “Will of God” day. I hope you took some time to allow a spirit of gratitude to envelope your circumstances and swallow up your sorrow in a sparkling sea of bliss and joy. Ok, neither did I. But at least the turkey was good.