Giving Thanks for the Simple Things

     This is a busy week for most of us as we prepare to celebrate Thanksgiving with family and friends.  Cleaning, shopping and food preparation is on everyone's mind, and some have already begun their trip to the home where their celebration will be held.  With all this busy activity, we often lose the meaning behind the day we set aside to remember.  For the Pilgrim's and native Americans, it was a time to be thankful for the bountiful harvest God had given as well as the Lord's protection.  We often forget that for these first settlers there was no grocery store nearby in case someone forgot an ingredient nor was there an urgent care around the corner if someone was injured.  Life was very precious back then and nothing was taken for granted.  Unfortunately, today, we often fail to thank God for even the simplest of blessings.
     As I read "The Valley of Vision" today (a collection of Puritan prayers and devotions), I came across a prayer entitled "Evening Praise" (pg. 224-225).  It speaks of the simple things which God provides and we often don't even think to thank Him for.
     " Giver of All,
           Another day is ended, and I take my place beneath my great Redeemer's cross,
      where healing streams continually descend, where balm is poured into every wound,
      where I wash anew in all the cleansing blood, assured that thou sees in me no spots of sin.
      Yet a little while and I shall go to thy home and be no more seen;  Help me to gird

up the loins of
       my mind, to quicken my step, to speed as if each moment were my last, that my life be joy,
       my death glory.  I thank thee for the temporal blessings of this world - the refreshing air,
       the light of the sun, the food that renews strength, the raiment that clothes, the dwelling that
       shelters, the sleep that gives rest, the starry canopy of night, the summer breeze, the flowers'
       sweetness, the music of flowing streams, the happy endearments of family, kindred, friends.
      Things animate, things inanimate, minister to my comfort, My cup runs over.  Suffer me not to be
       insensible to these daily mercies.  Thy hand bestows blessings: they power averts evil.  I bring
       tribute of thanks for spiritual graces, the full warmth of faith, the cheering presence of thy
       Spirit, the strength of thy restraining will, thy spiking of hell's artillery,
       Blessed be my sovereign Lord!"

     Reading these words made me feel ashamed that so often I do not stop to thank God as this pilgrim did for the simple blessings that God so freely gives to His children every day.  There is never a moment or even a breath that we take but what the Lord is not there with us.  We may not see it or feel it, but His Word tells us that He will never leave us nor forsake us.  What joy should fill our heart that we are so carefully kept day to day.
     As we approach Thanksgiving, think on this prayer and make a list of all the things God has blessed you with personally or as a family.  We must focus on the many things we have as a result of God's goodness and not on the things we lack.  He meets all our needs according to His riches in glory.  May we make thanksgiving to God a daily practice as we go forward and not just a once a year occasion.  Having a thankful heart changes the way we see life and our relationship to our Savior.  Selah!

The Waiting Game

     Waiting is hard for most of us especially if there is anything urgent that we are concerned about.  Our whole culture has gotten into the habit of acquiring things quickly.  Fast food, high speed internet, instant communication through texting and even forms of high speed transit make us impatient with any delays.  Yet God does not work on our timetable.  We are confined by time, schedules, and 24 hour periods, but God is outside of time.  His purposes, thoughts and ways are often beyond our ability to understand.  The Bible tells us this clearly (Isaiah 55:8-9).  Therefore, we need to be patient and trusting in Him who is our rock.  David knew this about the Lord he served, and we can derive encouragement from the Psalm he wrote.
     Psalm 62:5-8 reads like this:  "My soul, wait silently for God alone, for my expectation is from Him.  He only is my rock and my salvation; He is my defense; I shall not be moved.  In God is my salvation and my glory; the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God.  Trust in Him at all times, you people; pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us.  Selah "  David is preaching to himself and to us as we read these words.  It is hard to wait for a baby to be born, for medical tests to come back, or even for a prayer to be answered.  We are all familiar with the phrase, "Hurry up and wait."  Nothing happens, however, that does not first pass through the hands of God.  His timing is perfect which is why we are called upon to trust in Him.
     One of the key things we need to do when we are waiting for an answer is to put our expectation on God.  He is the one who made us.  He has a plan for our lives, and His timing is perfect.  David makes it clear that God is our Rock and Salvation.  He is our stability in the midst of a world that teeters and sways with every whim of man.  So how is it that we can remain calm, patient, and peaceful as we wait?
     First, we need to surround ourselves with encouraging, godly friends.  Knowing that others are praying with us as we wait helps to keep us upbeat rather than anxious
.  David said he was waiting silently for God alone.  He was not frantic but calm.  Being able to talk with Christian friends and family helps us keep perspective that we are never alone.
     In addition, David tells us to pour out our hearts to God.  Prayer changes things.  It changes our attitude, it draws us close to our heavenly Father, it allows us to release our emotions, and it brings us inner contentment.  This should be a daily routine for each of us but especially when confronted with waiting.  There is not one detail of our lives that God does not care about.  He wants to know if we feel frightened, hurt, anxious.  He is our rock on which we can depend, but He wants to hear from us.
     Finally, one of the most important resources we have is God's Word.  The Bible contains the truth. Not only does God reveal Himself to us through His Word but He also provides for us His comfort, wisdom and love.  As we store it in our hearts, our trust and confidence in the Lord grows exponentially.  While everything else may pass away in this world, God's Word will remain forever.  Therefore, we need to make certain it is the foundation of our faith day by day.
     With God as our rock, we cannot be moved by life's waiting, circumstances or heartaches.  He is for us when we belong to Him.  This is such comfort when it seems like the answers to our prayers never come or come quickly enough.  We must remember that God operates on a different timetable for our welfare and His glory.  He is not slow...He is right on time.  Therefore, we must find encouragement in other believers, pray daily and read scripture.  Our waiting will be worth it in the end!  Selah!

An Encouraging Word

     Do you need some encouragement?  I know that I do almost every day.  Life can be really difficult and unfair at times.  For the Christian, seeing the wicked prosper while we struggle to get ahead, can be  discouraging.  When will we see justice done?  Will our efforts ever pay off in the end as we seek to serve the Lord?  Certainly, we know that one day we will enter into eternal life with the Lord and find rest for our souls, but in the meantime,  what encouragement can we find?
     As I looked into Psalms today, once again, I found truth that brought me peace.  In Psalm 37, King David tells us:  "Fret not yourself because of evildoers; be not envious of wrongdoers!  For they will fade like the grass and wither like the green herb" (vs. 1-2).  How often do we get upset when we see a person who is breaking all the rules (laws) and yet, they seem to get away with it.  In fact, they are often applauded by the culture.  It is so easy to become embittered.  Nevertheless, we are instructed with a remedy that should bring us great encouragement.  Verses 3-4 read:  "Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.  Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart."  Within these verses, we are pointed to the direction that we need.
     Our first focus should be on the Lord and not on this world.  Trust me, it is easy to get wrapped up in what is happening daily all around us.  We see people getting ahead in business by crushing others in their wake or perhaps, we see someone getting promoted who has been cheating on the job.  It does seem unfair.  Yet, we are told to trust God, do good and befriend faithfulness.  To put it another way, continue doing what God has called you to do, and in due season, the blessings will come because God sees your heart.  We must not get wrapped up in what others are doing in this world.  God has not called us to fret over evildoers.  Verse 8-9 tells us:  "Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath!  Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.  For the evildoers shall be cut off, but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land."  My mother used to tell me that getting upset over something we cannot change is a waste of energy and emotion.  She was right and so is God's Word!
     As we meditate on these verses, we can take away some practical words of wisdom.  We must, first, wait on God's timing.  He sees us and all our efforts.  When the moment is right, He will bring the blessings according to His will and plan for us.  Secondly, we need to learn to trust Him.  We know from the Word that He is good, and His love for us is unconditional.  Therefore, we must know that He has our best interests at heart all the time.  Thirdly, we need to continue to do good no matter what everyone else is doing around us.  God has called us to be His servants and ambassadors of the Good News.  Fourth, we are to plant ourselves wherever the Lord has placed us.  Work with a cheerful heart and allow the Lord to bring the harvest in His timing.  Fifth, we need to be faithful in what we are doing.  Don't be concerned about others around us.  Instead, think about how God has been faithful to us.  This will feed an attitude of gratitude!  Finally, we are to delight ourselves in the Lord.  He is our supplier, defender, sustainer and redeemer.  He will grant us the desires of our heart when He is the center of our life.
     Later in this Psalm
that King David wrote during his old age, we read these words that should also bring encouragement to us:  (vs. 35)"I have been young, and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken."  When it comes to fulfilling His promises to the righteous, God never misses a beat.  While it may look like the wicked are cleaning up in this world, their day is coming when God will bring them to account.  Read the entire Psalm 37 and rejoice for the Lord will bless those who belong to Him.  He sees our situation and has promised to never leave or forsake us!  Selah!

When Its Been One of Those Days

     There are times when things just don't seem to turn out the way we had expected, and it seems that whatever can go wrong does.  This is the way my Monday began.  Actually, I should back up and explain that on Saturday, I opened the freezer door and a pound of frozen bacon came flying off the shelf and hit my big toe.  To say this hurt is putting it very mildly.  All night long the toe throbbed and so I got very little sleep. The same was true for the next evening.  This is probably what led to my not so happy Monday.
     Having a doctor's appointment in another town, I left early enough so I arrived on time.  There were no other patients in the office, and in fact, the doctor came out and chatted with his receptionist for a while and returned to his office.  I waited fifteen more minutes before I had the chance to see him.  This was to be the first of many irritations.
     In addition, our internet had been down since the past week meaning no communication or T.V.  We had a tech scheduled to come but not until Tuesday.  This was irritating but then my cell phone email quit responding as well.  I did not know how to remedy the problem so I went to the providers office in the same town where my appointment was only to find there was a line out the door.  I waited in line, and when I finally got to a customer service agent, she told me I had to call the technical line because they could not help me at all.  Unfortunately, my luck with agents on the technical line was often dismal, but I had no other possibility.
     By the time I reached home, I was in quite a stew about life in general.  Lack of sleep, and the frustrations of life can make problems seem much larger than they really are.  With this in mind, I decided to just sit quietly and do some embroidery, read my Bible passages and allow myself to unwind.  It is far better to be silent than to speak up and say something unkind.  My mother impressed that upon my heart long ago.
     Reading the Word of God brought the most comfort to my heart...it always does.  Why do we not reach for it more often?  One of my favorite verses is found in Psalm 30:5:  "For His anger is but for a moment,  His favor is for life;  Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning."  Then, I turned to another favorite verse sound in Psalm 147:3:  "He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds."  What a God of mercy and grace who cares about us and even the little things that cause us frustration.  However, my favorite verse comes from 2 Corinthians 1:3-4:  "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God."  These beautiful words really do soothe the soul like no other Scripture.  To think, we are loved by the God of all comfort.  He personally comforts us like a mother comforts a child who has been injured or is afraid.
     In those moments as I read this, I could feel the loving arms of the Lord around me.  Then, the hymn that was one my father loved to hear came to mind, "What a Friend We Have in Jesus".  Verse 1 goes:  "What a friend we have in Jesus,
               All our sins and griefs to bear!
              What a privilege to carry
               Everything to God in prayer!
              Oh, what peace we often forfeit,
              Oh, what needless pain we bear,
              All because we do not carry
              Everything to God in prayer!"
We do often forfeit our peace when we allow the circumstances of life to dictate our happiness.  Our first thoughts should be to take the everyday situations before the Lord who cares for us.
     Not only did the Scripture bring me comfort, but it also brought me conviction.  I had allowed my
frustration to win the day.  In those moments of silent reflection, I found repentance, peace and the joy of the Lord again.  How sweet to end my day this way.
     Have you had those days too?  Our comfort is never far away or unable to lift us above our circumstances.  All we need to do is call upon the Lord, meditate on His Word and trust in Him.  He is the God of all comfort.  As He has comforted me, I have shared this with you to pass along His comfort as the Word tells us to do.  Be encouraged today and know that when frustration arises, God is only a whispered prayer away.  Selah!