Three years ago, on Thanksgiving Day, my dad and I sang together for the last time in this life.  He was scheduled to go in for cancer surgery which would result in the removal of an entire lung, and I knew how hard it was going to be for him to never sing again.  That day, with tears in my eyes, my sister-in-law played the piano as we sang these words:

 

Why do I feel discouraged, why do the shadows come?

Why does my heart feel lonely, and long for heaven and home?

When Jesus is your portion, a constant friend is He

His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me

 

So I sing because I'm happy, and I sing because I'm free

His eye is on the sparrow and I know He watches me

 

I thought of those words and of that day when I read today's passage from 1 Peter about enduring hardship.   This Thanksgiving, despite the joy of family reunions, good food, football and shopping, some in our church family will nonetheless be clinging for dear life to Peter's words about the glorious, inexpressible joy that will follow the trials of this life.  In the midst of refreshing laughter and reminiscing, fleeting thoughts will go towards those who are missing from the celebration - the prodigals, those who have gone to be with the Lord, and those who are simply unable to come home. 

 

The ultimate Thanksgiving Day and the penultimate feast will one day be ours when our faith is in Christ.  We are to live with a great expectation of a priceless inheritance - an inheritance kept in heaven for us, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay. Peter wrote that our many trials last but a little while and that there is wonderful joy to come.

 

I want to live with that kind of great expectation; don't you?  I need to remember that we are foreigners in the land.....and that the great glory is yet to come.  And through our faith, God is protecting us by His power until we receive this salvation, which is ready to be revealed on the last day for all to see.

 

My dad is singing today.  Many of your loved ones are with him, giving thanks and enjoying a banquet fit for The King.  So be truly glad - there is wonderful joy ahead.

 

Karen Peikert