As a kid, I was told by my parents and table group leaders at my church to thank God for all He has done for me. So Thanksgiving and Christmas are pretty easy for a lot of us because even when times seem dark, even when the depths of your heart feel unfulfilled at times— He has given you so much. So give thanks!

It’s good to thank God for all that He has done for you, but we may be missing the mark on something so much bigger and better.

Appreciation isn’t love. And thankfulness can’t touch the depth of love.

For example, I appreciate the weather, but only because of comfortable conditions or circumstances. I don’t love the weather. I love what it can do for me or how it can make me feel.

In relation to my faith, I have been asked to share what I am thankful for. But I don’t think I have ever been asked: why do you love God?

Think of it like this.
Your appearance that you value a lot is taken away after an accident.
Your person of interest, significant other has a change of heart that leaves you bewildered and without closure or clarity.
Your financial situation is run amuck through job loss.
That education you valued a lot— in jeopardy, along with your living situation that has been really appreciated thus far.
Your health is taken away and that leaves you dreading the next year of uncertainty.
Or what if joy is hard to come by?
The potentials could go on.

I don’t bring up these scenarios for nothing and I don’t bring up these things to tap into anyone’s insecurities or fears. It’s just to bring up the question— what if your love for the God of this universe was based on what He gave you in this universe?

It’s a scary thing to think of.

Is your praise “God is good” hinged on Him giving you something you deem good? Or is it a reflection of who He is despite circumstances?

And I’m not talking about His unending Love, amazing Grace, or Salvation—which cannot be taken away and is not subject to this world.

In John Piper’s God is the Gospel, he brought up a scenario coupled with a question that I am trying to get at…
“The critical question for our generation—and for every generation—is this: If you could have heaven, with no sickness, and with all the friends you ever had on earth, and all the food you ever liked, and all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed, and all the natural beauties you ever saw, all the physical pleasures you ever tasted, and no human conflict or any natural disasters, could you be satisfied with heaven, if Christ was not there?”

Is He enough?

This wasn’t written to provide insight but an encouragement to think about why you love God. Do you love him for who He is or do you love Him for the stuff He gives you?

Think about it. And if your answer gives you comfort— awesome. Keep going and let others around you know that you love God and why you love Him.

And if it doesn’t, then it’s okay! Because He loves us regardless of how skewed we are or how screwed up we are. And nothing we think, say, or do can take away from that. But we can always keep getting to know Him. Ask Him to shape your will to His. Your desires to His. And to give you the right community and guidance around you.

He lives outside of temporary circumstances because He is. He loves us because of who He is. And that is forever comforting and true.

2 Corinthians 4:18
So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

God Bless.

J. Wilder