I Love What I Have: A Thanksgiving Cure for Wishing You Had More

Hey, carpool crew. Happy Thanksgiving. I'm Pastor Justin, and today is a day when families all across the country stop to say thank you to God for food, for family, for friends, and for every good thing he's given us. But sometimes even on Thanksgiving, we still catch ourselves thinking. I wish I had more. I wish I had more pie. I wish my house looked like theirs. I wish I had what someone else has. That's when it's time to remember a simple phrase. I love what I have. It couldn't be better. Today's verse is from Psalm 107 verse one. Give thanks to the Lord for he is good, his faithful love endures forever. This verse reminds us that God's goodness never runs out, not on our best days or our hardest days. Every good thing we have comes from him. Throughout the Bible, people who were closest to God were the ones who gave thanks the most. They didn't have everything, but they knew they had enough. Even King David, who had hard times of sadness and struggle, kept writing songs that said, thank you, Lord, for your love and your goodness. That's what Thanksgiving is really about, wanting what you already have because you know it came from God. If Jesus were sitting next to you at the Thanksgiving table today, I'd think he'd smile and say, you don't need everything to be perfect to be thankful. You can look around and say, I love my life. It couldn't be better, because I am right here with you. So is your family and everyone loves you. So let's try something together. Maybe you're at a family's house or a friend's house and everyone's riding their bikes outside and you see your friend's bike and you think, man, I wish I had a bike like that. You look at your bike and kick the tire and you're like, oh boy, when am I gonna get a new one? Stop and say, I love my bike. It couldn't be better. Maybe you go over to someone's house and you're checking out someone's bedroom. You see that they have a TV in their room and an Xbox and a PlayStation, and they have a swing in their room and you think, I wish I had a room like this. My room, oh, it needs some improvement. Stop yourself and say, I love my bedroom. It couldn't be better. And maybe when you're sitting down for dinner and you see the plate that maybe mom or dad made for you to get things started. Maybe there's a few more vegetables than you'd like. Not enough meat. Maybe you have some mashed potatoes and not enough green bean casserole, which is my favorite actually. And you look at someone else's plate piled high with turkey or roast beef, and you think, man, I wish that plate could be mine. Stop yourself and say, I love my plate of food. It couldn't be better. See, gratitude changes the way your heart feels. When you focus on what you do have instead of what you don't, joy starts to grow inside of you. So here's your Thanksgiving challenge, something you can do all year long. Every time you notice yourself seeing something that's bigger or better or nicer than what you think you have, stop yourself and say, I love what I have. It couldn't be better, because thankful people don't wait for perfect days or perfect stuff. They know that God's love makes today enough and what they have has come from God. Remember, no matter where you are or how you're listening, God loves you. And I know what you're thinking. And you know what, everyone, when I think out there to all the families and kids that are listening to carpooling with Jesus all around the country and all around the world, I think to myself, I love the carpool crew. It couldn't be better. I'm thankful for each and every one of you. Before you go, answer this question together. What's something in your life right now that you can say, I love this, it couldn't be better? I'll see you tomorrow on carpooling with Jesus.