When Thanksgiving Calls Us Out of Hiding

Thanksgiving has a way of calling people out —

out of isolation,

out of self-preservation,

out of the quiet corners where we tend to retreat.

It draws us toward tables

where we might not normally sit,

with people we might not normally gather,

except that a day on the calendar invites us to come together.

Sometimes all we need is that simple call to action.

And in this way —

Thanksgiving resembles Salvation.

For Salvation too calls us out from isolation,

that shadowed place where the enemy prefers to keep us —

alone, unseen, disconnected —

and it invites us into something fuller:

communion, fellowship, LOVE, and Life.

The Spark Called Giving Thanks

Both Thanksgiving and Salvation begin with a spark so small

we may not even recognize it at first:

giving thanks.

Giving thanks for hope —

for the whisper of reconciliation —

for the stirring of faith that rises quietly within the heart.

This is the covenant He writes on our hearts — ‘I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them.’ (Hebrews 10:16)

We seldom see it happening in real time.

We don’t always name it or understand it.

Yet…

BUT GOD…

He is always working.

Always moving toward us.

As Jesus said, ‘My Father is always working, and I too am working.’ (John 5:17)

Always planting divine intervention right in the middle of what feels hopeless.

The God Who Calls Us Out of Hiding

He has always been the One who calls His children out from behind the bushes.

Genesis 3:9.

“Where are you?”

Do you remember the moment He called to you like that?

Do you remember the tug — small, gentle, unmistakable?

Faith comes by hearing.

Romans 10:17.

And God does not shout us into His presence —

He invites us with a still, small, gentle whisper.

1 Kings 19:12.

A whisper so soft we could almost miss it,

yet strong enough to awaken faith in a soul that had forgotten how to hope.

Thanksgiving as Worship

The Apostle Paul reminds us that it is humanity’s sacred duty

to acknowledge God as Creator

and to give thanks.

In fact, he teaches that thanksgiving can transform the ordinary.

A meal becomes worship.

A table becomes an altar.

The mundane becomes holy when touched by gratitude.

This, too, is part of the calling out —

the movement from ordinary life

into sacred fellowship with God.

The Invitation Still Stands

And so we hear the echo of Hebrews 10:

“Let us draw near.”

Draw near with a true heart.

Draw near in full assurance of faith.

Draw near with consciences cleansed

and bodies washed in pure water.

“Let us hold fast our confession of hope without wavering,

for He who promised is faithful.”

And perhaps most fitting for Thanksgiving:

“Let us consider one another

to stir up love and good works,

not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together…”

(Hebrews 10:22–25)

A Table, A Call, A Homecoming

Thanksgiving is more than a holiday.

It is a picture — a prophetic whisper —

of the God who calls us out of hiding

and back into fellowship.

A God who invites us to gather,

to draw near,

to taste hope,

to hear His whisper,

and to come home.

This is the heart of both Thanksgiving and Salvation:

the God who calls,

the faith that awakens,

and the love that gathers us together.