oh, the things to be thankful for...

So, in case you haven't heard... which I don't know how that is possible... gas prices have dropped below $2/gal. for the first time in over three years! HOORAY and pass the pump! Well, maybe not pass the gas pump, but as we head into the holiday season it's definitely something to be thankful for.

The crazy thing is that 10 years ago that would have been ridiculous. When I graduated from high school gas was right around $1/gal. and very few people thought about filling up the ol' car. Sure, my parents remember paying a lot more for gas in the 70s and early 80s and when I lived in Europe as an early adolescent I remember Mom and Dad talking about it, but more or less I think we took it for granted that in the US gas prices would be cheap. Sure, getting good MPGs was a selling point for buying a car, but it wasn't a make or break. Americans bought outlandishly huge SUVs whether they needed them or not... remember the first Hummer that got like 6 mpg... funny.

Things have certainly changed, because I don't know about you, but when I get around that turkey this week and begin thinking about what I am thankful for one of the things I will be praising God for is that gas prices are falling.

Now, is that weird? I don't know. I mean, I'm certainly not more thankful for the low gas prices than I am for my loving wife or my family, or the fact that I am relatively healthy and I have a job or am a part of a good church or a nice home or the thousand other things that are more important. But, I gotta tell you... when you drive as much as I do and have to fill up a car as much as I do seeing the ticker only go hint $25 as opposed to $45 is not insignificant. It's something to be thankful for. And, yes, I thank God. Now, that may be the weird thing for some of you... What does God have to do with it?

I believe that God is absolutely 100% in control of everything, and while that can create some discomfort for me intellectually and emotionally at times, it is a tremendous comfort all the time. Because when things are good I know that God is in control, and when things are not good I know He is still in control. I'm not really dependent upon anyone person or any one thing. I'm just dependent upon a God who does not change.

Times change. Families change. Jobs change. Gas prices change. Churches change. Governments change. Health changes. God does not. And that is something to be thankful for. Because whether I know it or not, I know that Romans 8:28 is true...

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

and from 2 Corinthians 12:9-10...

[Jesus said], 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.