Below is a classic hymn from a nineteenth-century pastor in England, "Come, Ye Thankful People, Come." I have read and experienced many depressing things lately, and yet, God has impressed upon me, be thankful anyway.
Our momentary afflictions will soon pass and God will bring us into His presence. What greater thought could there ever be than that this side of paradise? So let's rejoice this Thanksgiving that Jesus is the Lord of the Harvest and soon He will return.
All the world is God's own field,
Fruit unto His praise to yield;
Wheat and tares together sown
Unto joy or sorrows grown.
First the blade, and then the ear,
Then the full corn shall appear;
Lord of harvest, grant that we
Wholesome grain and pure may be.
For the Lord our God shall come
And shall take His harvest home;
From His field shall in that day
All offenses purge away,
Give His angels charge at last
In the fire the tares to cast,
But the fruitful ears to store
In His garner evermore.
