Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
Philippians 4:6 NIV
With Thanksgiving
According to a study from Dalhousie Agri-food Analytics Lab, food prices went up 10.3 per cent in Saskatchewan from 2021 to 2022 and were expected to rise further by the end of 2023. Food prices impacted Thanksgiving classics in 2023. According to Sylvain Charlebois senior director of the lab at Dalhousie, “Turkey, for example, has gone up 18 per cent despite the fact that it’s supply-managed. Still, poultry in general is more expensive this year.” Charlebois listed the carbon tax, the cost of feed and the cost of production as some of the reasons why turkey prices are up.
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There is so much that can lead us into anxiety. Some people live with the anxiety to the extent that it is called chronic. Our Creator, who lived on this earth for some three decades in the person of Jesus the Christ, understands what anxiety is all about. We saw His full humanity in the Garden of Gethsemane as He sweat drops of blood. In everything, Jesus taught us what to do when anxiety strikes us – He went directly to the Father in prayer and yielded it all to the will of God. Paul gives us the same advice in Philippians 4:6: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” As we take everything to the Lord in prayer, we find that He lifts the load. He is so much more able to carry it all than we are. And Paul adds the call to thanksgiving in the midst of whatever is causing the anxiety. So, pray and give thanks.
These have been words from the heart.
Bob Beasley