Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29
"Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever. Let Israel say: 'His love endures forever.' Open for me the gates of righteousness; I will enter and give thanks to the Lord. This is the gate of the Lord through which the righteous may enter. I will give you thanks, for you answered me; you have become my salvation. The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. O Lord, save us; O Lord, grant us success. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. From the house of the Lord we bless you. The Lord is G-d, and he has made his light shine upon us. With boughs in hand, join in the festal procession up to the horns of the altar. You are my G-d, and I will give you thanks; you are my G-d, and I will exalt you. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever."THOUGHTS:
As I typed out the passage above, I found myself lamenting the idea of giving thanks. There are times that I just don't understand how to give thanks. There are things I just don't want to give thanks for. How are we supposed to be thankful for a crappy day or a life cut short? How are we supposed to be thankful when your car brakes down at the most inconvenient time? Or when cancer has been diagnosed? There just seems to be times that being thankful doesn't seem possible. It's silly to think that one could be thankful that a car has broke down or that a life was cut short. And it is silly. It's ridiculous.
This psalm reminds me that it is not those circumstances we are to be thankful for. That thankfulness is about the goodness of G-d. G-d hasn't caused the bad circumstances, but G-d redeems them. G-d works in them. His love endures forever. We can rejoice that he is faithful, that he saves. This is how we praise him in the storms of life because the thankfulness is about gratitude for the storm in the moment. It is about gratitude for G-d's promise. The day will come after our trials have passed that we will look back see the very hand of G-d and how it moved and worked for our good. But in the storm, we can't see. In the tough diagnose, we loose sight. In the hard blow, we're shaken. But G-d, O G-d will not be shaken and he holds steady. He holds us. One day we will see clearly, but for now we thank him for the faithfulness even when we can't see it.
ACTION:
Lord, there are days that I feel like I'm falling apart and it will not be okay. Father, give me the strength to thank you for being you.
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