I Just Want to Thank You…

“Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking,

which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving.”

Ephesians 5:4

 

 

Lord, there is so very much to be thankful for.

And yet it also very easy to get caught up in complaints and grumbling.

Forgive me when my choice is to recognize and uplift the negatives of life while failing to find your blessings in my midst.

 I choose to thank you…

Thank you for my beautiful wife with whom I celebrate thirty-five years of marriage today.

Thank you for a son who loves and serves you.

Thank you for entrusting us with a daughter through whom you show yourself faithful.

Thank you for allowing us to be a part of a church family that is alive with your love and moving in the Holy Spirit to honor you in all the ways you reveal yourself to us.

Thank you for extended friends and family.

Help me to grow in gratitude and crush complaining in my life.

Without clouds there could be no rain so may I rejoice in the sunny days and the cloud filled days as well.

Here is a challenge for each of us today.

Take a few moments and say “Thank you Lord for…”

Recognize the blessings even in the seemingly difficult things of life.

Corrie Ten Boom, in the book “The Hiding Place” which tells of her and her families time in the concentration camps as a result of hiding Jews in their home during WWII, tells of thanking God for an infestation of fleas in the particular building.

While it might seem odd to thank God for fleas, it was because of those fleas that the guards would not enter their building and thus allowed them the opportunity of Bible study and prayer.

Are you looking for God even in the ‘dark seasons’ of life?

Do you ask Him to open your eyes to His blessing on the ‘cloudy days’ of life?

If Corrie Ten Boom found something to thank God for in the infamous concentration camp, Ravensbruck, can you find something in the midst of your difficulties?

Thankfulness and gratitude catches God’s ear.