Giving thanks with a grateful heart
Thanksgiving 1999



Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth! Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Give thanks to Him and praise His name. For the Lord is good and His love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations.
From Psalm 100



I really love Thanksgiving. If I had my way, I'd make it a worldwide holiday, preferably every week! It isn't just the delicious food, reassuring though a wonderful meal can be in these transitory times. What could be more comforting than a table groaning with turkey and all the trimmings topped off with Grandma's apple and pumpkin pies? Only the presence of God Himself, and that's why I love it so.

There is a multitude of reasons to be thankful. For this column, I will leave to one side the grubby business of politics, and I won't even go into detail about how thankful the American nation is that Bill Clinton will, please God, be gone from the White House in just over 400 days (but who's counting?), even though that prospect alone warrants at least a week of national rejoicing.

Across America at Thanksgiving, the busy rush of life is briefly calmed as families and friends gather to eat and to embrace one another, and to prayerfully celebrate God's goodness as we thank Him for His many blessings to us. Of course, the po-faced liberals wouldn't dream of thanking God. Presumably, they just sit there in smug self-satisfaction like the proud Pharisee in the Temple who prayed: "God, I thank You that I am not like other men." (Luke 18:11) That's the approximate viewpoint of the socialist ruling class these days. But take heart, folks: their days of power are numbered! It is good to pause, in the midst of the mighty battle for America's soul, to thank God for all He does for us.

Some seem less than convinced that we should be thankful to God. Instead they thank some nebulous and unnamed provider of our blessings. Yet William Bradford, one of the Mayflower pilgrims and Governor of Plymouth Colony, wrote of the first settlers in 1620: "What could they see but a hideous and desolate wilderness, full of wilde beasts and wilde men? And what multitudes of them there were, they then knew not: for which way soever they turned their eyes (save upward to Heaven) they could have but little solace or content in respect of any outward object." Nonetheless, they found it in their hearts to be thankful.

Abraham Lincoln, in his 1863 Thanksgiving proclamation, wrote: "In the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed. No human counsel hath devised, nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the most high God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy."

Lincoln also lamented: "Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us! It behooves us then, to humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our national sins, and to pray for clemency and forgiveness." His words were true in 1863, and they are true today. We need to repent.

Throughout history, our forebears have faced incredible challenges. Life for them, and often for us too, has presented more burdens than we can easily face. We sometimes feel overwhelmed, and there is a great temptation to cave in to despair. Yet, opportunities to be thankful for our blessings always seem to present themselves. You may know the saying: The optimist proclaims that this is the best of all possible worlds, and the pessimist fears this is true." There is always room for optimism and faith, no matter how difficult the circumstances may be. That is true in our national life, and it is true in our homes as well.

There is a special reason to give thanks this week at one New Orleans household. I've just spent a few days with some young people in Georgia as they learned devotion to God and country and responsible citizenship. There I met Jean, a 17 year-old, who shared his struggle with brain cancer, which according to his doctors, would end his life in about a month from now.

Jean underwent brain surgery on May 24 and May 25, 1999, at Lackland Air Force base in San Antonio, Texas. On May 27, he received the worst possible news: he had a very aggressive form of cancer known as medulloblastoma. On June 7, he flew home to New Orleans, where his parents, three brothers and three sisters all joined in praying for him. He was prescribed extensive radiation and chemotherapy to prevent the development of more large tumors. He declined their prescription, and instead decided to trust God for his healing. He began alternative therapies such as changing his diet and taking vitamins, believing that fervent prayer and natural remedies work more effectively than man-made solutions. For several months, things looked brighter.

On October 26, 1999, during a medical checkup, the doctors found another brain tumor. He says: "I was crushed." The doctors prescribed the same treatment as before but he asked them to wait one month before starting, knowing that each day he waited made the tumor closer to becoming inoperable. He says: "I wanted God to heal me, and this time I was ready to yield to Him in anything and everything." We know "God has said, 'Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you." (Hebrews 13:5) Jean was forced to abandon his college plans, and lost part of his vision as the tumor impacted his optic nerves. Friends had asked that he be allowed to attend this special youth retreat weekend to give him one last surge of happiness.

Jean is a talkative, outgoing young man, very much aware of God's presence and totally surrendered to His will. Last Saturday, he bravely shared his story, and said he had prayed only for God's will to be done. Afterwards, I took him aside with four others, and asked them to pray for his healing. As the scripture directs: "Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up." (James 5:14-15) I felt it was time to take the scripture at face value.

Imagine us this past weekend at a peaceful campsite next to a beautiful lake, inside a National Park near Atlanta. I shepherded the teenagers to a quiet place and told them honestly that I do not possess the gift of healing, but that I was willing to join with them in asking God to heal this young man, who had just four days before he would have to begin chemotherapy or face the prospect of death within a few weeks.

Just before Thanksgiving, I received the following e-mail, which I read with astonishment, awe and joy, and which, with Jean's permission, I share with you now:

Monday, November 22, 1999 Dear Mr. Myers, I have great joy in that I am able to write you and tell you I haven't a brain tumor any longer. This is an awesome thing to be able to tell you ... I had no doubt in God's ability but had resigned myself to what I thought was a reality. God has proven to me in a very intimate way that man hasn't a clue as to the nature of God or His ways. I can't begin to express the joy and the affirmation in God's goodness to man despite our nature being everything but faithful and good to Him. When I had my MRI test done this morning I had prepared myself for the worst: to spend my 18th birthday on December 12, Christmas and the New Year in the hospital at best (and probably worse). At 2:30 this afternoon, the doctor called and said, in a very disturbed way, "The tumor that was there isn't there. I have gone over this with a few other doctors and they are in agreement that you no longer have a tumor growth in your brain." Talk about a shock, I could hardly think of what to say ... ummm ... I still don't know for sure. God is awesome and he DOES reign on high with dominion over all the earth. The tumor is gone ... the doctors try and explain it to me but have no answer as to what happened. They compare it to the other MRI that shows the tumor and nothing is there now. This is a miracle. Thank God, for He alone is worthy of praise. Praise be to God for He surely does deliver all that trust in Him. Thank you for hearing God and praying for me as you did. God bless and keep you. In Christ, Jean

I'm not sure how you would react to receiving a letter like that from a great teenager with a new lease on life. As regular readers know, I am not often speechless. All I can do is pour out grateful thanks to God. I am amazed at His faithfulness to us, when we are obedient to Him. God's will is not sickness and pain, even though we can learn from such difficulties. God's will is wellness, rejoicing, purpose and blessing.

Let each of us count our blessings this Thanksgiving, for in so doing, we shall draw strength for the fierce battles yet to come. If I could consolidate my thoughts into a single prayer, it would be this: "America! America! God shed His grace on thee; and crown thy good with brotherhood from sea to shining sea!"

And if I may summarize my reason for thankfulness on this special day, it would be in the awesome words of Keith and Melody Green's song, There is a Redeemer: "Thank you, O my Father, for giving us your Son, and leaving Your Spirit 'till the work on earth is done."

This Thanksgiving, may God bless you and your family and friends, and may God bless America. . Steve Myers © 1996, 2000, 2002, 2006