Goodbye 2020 : With Thanksgiving and Gratitude By Dr. Zenet Maramara

Are you ready to end 2020 with thanksgiving and gratitude?

How do we end the year 2020, with thankfulness and gratitude when it is filled with Covid 19 pandemic, chaos, confusion, global lockdown, and a halt on our normal way of life?

God’s Sovereignty

We are saddened and grieve with those who lost loved ones to the virus. Many suffer from loss of business, travel and physical restrictions. We feel powerless over this seemingly invincible enemy. Nevertheless, God in his sovereignty continues to be in control in the midst of a world that seems out of control.

Those whose hearts are intimate with God acknowledge his presence not only in times of joy and prosperity, but even during dark providence. We may not fully comprehend the bigger scheme of the divine plan and the blessing that can come from a crisis.

A Testimony

Many years ago, a friend of mine decided to build a manufacturing plant to be a supplier of aluminum toothpaste tubes to multinational giants. Supplying toothpaste tubes turned out to be a very lucrative business. Not long after, aluminum tubes were replaced by plastic and my friend had to close his plant and many workers were unemployed.

In despair, my friend questioned God but he quickly found a way forward. Instead of filing for bankruptcy, he learned how to manufacture toothpaste in order to make use of his plant. He marketed his own toothpaste brand, competed with the multinational giants, and at one point, he captured 20 percent of the Philippine toothpaste market share. He ended up making much more than when he was just a supplier of aluminum toothpaste tubes.

People of Promise

As people of God, we  can cling on his promises. Zephaniah best expresses God’s constant presence with us: “The Lord your God is with you, and will keep you anchored until this storm passes. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing,”

The stewards’ heart have reason to rejoice because we know that God has not left us and he is very much present and in control and continues to sustain the world.  It is likewise good to be reminded that we are but sojourners in the earth. Putting on an eternal perspective can open our hearts and minds to explode with thanksgiving and gratitude.

God With Us

We end the year in this season of Advent that commemorates the coming of the Son of God. We can share the life-giving hope in Christ Jesus, our Immanuel. We show the world that in everything, we can give thanks and lift our hands in gratitude because God is with us.

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Dr. Zenet Maramara is the founder/president of Christian Stewardship Association concurrently the executive director of Christians in Conservation, a A Rocha associated project. She was a professor of biblical stewardship at Asian Theological Seminary and former director of the ATS Strategic Leader Development; organized the MBA in Biblical Stewardship and Christian Management program of ATS.

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