"Thank You Lord!"

Friday, October 28, 2011 (7:52 a.m.)

Blessed Lord God,

Thank You! Thank You for plans. And hopes. Dreams. Ideas. Friends. Family. Beauty. You. Mm, yes Lord. More than anything at all, thank You for YOU! Your love. Your kindness. Generosity. Your plans. Hopes. Dreams. Ideas… You provided us them all.

Lord God, how I thank You for the way You are changing my thinking. The Way. Your Way. Mm, yes Lord, Your Way!

I used to be so cocksure of all the things I thought I knew. I had an air of overconfidence. Smugness. Presumption. You’ve changed all that Lord.

Then for an extremely long while, I stumbled around in the dark. Feeling my way around, fearful of making ANY decision on my own. And now, I keep looking to You. Funneling, filtering my plans, hopes, dreams, ideas… through You. Thank You Lord.

Thank You for continuing to show me that even though there are so many things I am not sure about, I KNOW You are good. I may have no idea where the next step may take any of us, but I absolutely know that You are good!

It’s a choice. A conscious decision to trust You. Something I didn’t use to readily do. I thought I had to trust myself. My parents. Teachers. Authorities. Those with higher educations... It’s when I look to You, Your Truth, Your Will, Your Way I find peace. Calm. Hope. Joy.

Lord God, thank You. Thank You that You came into this world. Not “merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was” (John 3:17 The Message). You “came to help, to put the world right again.” And in doing so we have the Truth of which John wrote (see chapter 16).

You came and told Your disciples ‘these things to prepare them for rough times ahead’ (v.1). You told them what was ahead for them: being thrown out of meeting places (v.2), “There will even come a time when anyone who kills you will think he’s doing God a favor. They will do these things because they never really understood the Father” (3). You came Lord to prepare us for what was to come. “I’ve told you these things so that when the time comes and they start in on you, you’ll be warned and ready for them” (4).

Thank You, Lord! Thank You for coming. Preparing. Warning. Teaching. Promising. I can’t even begin to thank You enough for all You’ve given us. Hope. Life. Your promise that “when the Friend comes, the Spirit of the Truth, he will take you by the hand and guide you into all the truth there is” (13).

And right now, for me, the biggest promise of them all? Verse 33. “I’ve told you all this so that trusting me, you will be unshakable and assured, deeply at peace. In this godless world you will continue to experience difficulties. But take heart! I’ve conquered the world.”

When things appear to go wrong, I can practice saying “Thank You Lord!” I’ve thanked You for the good things for decades now. Here is where I ask You to help me become obedient to the call of 1Thessalonians 5:16-18. “Be cheerful no matter what; pray all the time; thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live.”

What can I add? Just my most sincere and robust, “Thank You Lord!” I love You. Amen.

(579 words ~ 9:14 a.m.)