Thankful
Thankful
Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.
For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;
his faithfulness continues through all generations.
Psalm 100:4–5
Pause
It was our first winter living on a boat. Temperatures dropped below freezing and ice formed on the river. It floated by, thudding and scraping our hull. Visions of the Titanic floated in my head. Then our furnace died and temperatures plunged indoors, too. The local expert repair guy promised to come but didn’t show. He promised again. And again. We waited and shivered for two weeks.
Knowing God led us to this boat-home helped keep me from despair. So did intentionally giving thanks. While I wasn’t thankful for frigid temperatures and repair costs, I expressed gratitude for God’s presence, winter’s beauty, and safety on slippery docks.
Giving thanks in hard places doesn’t come naturally. The key lies in surrendering our wills and expectations to the Lord. It’s an outer demonstration of an inner choice to trust him with our fears and frustrations. We bless him, and he blesses us with calm.
Ponder
Finish the sentence: “Today I am thankful for ____________.”
Pray
Father, I give you my fears and frustrations. And I give you thanks for loving me.
“I have learned that in every circumstance that comes my way, I can choose to respond in one of two ways: I can whine or I can worship! And I can’t worship without giving thanks. It just isn’t possible. When we choose the pathway of worship and giving thanks, especially in the midst of difficult circumstances, there is a fragrance, a radiance, that issues forth out of our lives to bless the Lord and others.”
Nancy Leigh DeMoss,
Choosing Gratitude: Your Journey to Joy
From the book
