This week we will celebrate Thanksgiving. It’s a time to gather with family, eat a lot of really good food and watch football. The name Thanksgiving evokes its true meaning. It’s a time that we are to be thankful.  As I begin to study worship, I am drawn to the question, who are we thankful to?

This morning we gathered together at church to worship and lift our hearts to our God and Lord Jesus Christ. We sang several songs by Keith and Kristyn Getty—their lyrics, crying out to our God and praising Him for all he has given to us.

I was drawn to the lyrics, especially those speaking of the heart, as this past week I also had several medical tests run on my heart. I don’t have my results yet—but God has been with me, helping me stay calm in the unknown. “My heart is filled with thankfulness to Him who walks beside, who floods my weaknesses with strength and causes fears to fly. Whose every promise is enough for every step I take, sustaining me with arms of love, and crowning me with grace.” As I wait for the results of the CT scan, I can feel God’s spirit holding me up. My normal fear and fists clutched in anxiety have been replaced with hands that are open and a heart that is thankful to God. I know that whatever may come in the next day or two, He will be with me, and He will walk beside me as I venture down the path that is yet to come.

“Humbly let go. Let go of trying to do, let go of trying to control, let go of my own way, let go of my own fears. Let God blow His wind, His trials, oxygen for joy’s fire. Leave the hand open and be. Be at peace. Bend the knee and be small and let God give what God chooses to give because He only gives love and whisper a surprised thanks. This is the fuel for joy’s flame. Fullness of joy is discovered only in the emptying of will. And I can empty. I can empty because counting His graces has awakened me to how He cherishes me, holds me, passionately values me. I can empty because I am full of His love. I can trust.” Ann Voskamp, writer of One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are

Letting go is a part of worship. How can I say that I trust God and that I believe in all that He truly is, if I refuse to unclench my hands? If I give my fear, uncertainty, and control to Him…but then immediately take it back, what am I saying? I am telling the God that I claim to love and serve, that I don’t believe who He is and that I don’t trust him! Stress is an act of distrust. Worship, thanksgiving, rejoicing…that draws our hearts to focus with who God truly is.

“Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth! Serve the LORD with gladness! Come into his presence with singing! Know that the LORD, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.” -Psalm 100