The thing is, when I’m feeling a little down about life, which apparently happens to me if the sun refuses to shine as often as it refused to shine this summer, I begin to wonder where my allegiance truly lies. I claim that I love God. I announce that I love him. I even believe that I love him. But do I really love Him, or do I simply love His gifts?
When the sky turns so blue it makes my heart leap inside my chest, I
look up and say, “Thank you God for this perfect day.” When Charlie runs off the baseball field with
a wide grin on his face after striking out two batters in a row, I look up
and say, “Thank you God for my healthy, happy son.” When Libby snuggles up next to me in her bed
and reads aloud, I look up and say, “Thank you God for my bright, capable daughter.” When Adam folds me into his chest and makes me
feel safe and secure and treasured, I look up and say, “Thank you God for my
amazing, loyal husband.”
Every single day, I express my gratitude to God for the blessings he
has bestowed upon me. Thank you God for my home, for food, for friends and family and fun.
But when do I just say . . .
Thank you, God.
When do I watch the raindrops streak across the window for the third
straight day and thank Him?
When do I feel the knot in my throat after being deeply hurt and thank Him?
When do I watch my children struggle and doubt and fail and thank Him?
The truth is . . . I don’t.
I love Him for the gifts, the blessings, the good things. I love Him when life is going well, when I
feel happy, when everything seems to be working out according to my plans. And I’m supposed to love Him for all
of it. For the sorrow and the fear and
the anxiety and the OCD and the pain and the loss and the misery.
The rain requires thanks. The
sadness requires thanks. The son who
shrugs his shoulders because he’s past the point of believing his parents know best
requires thanks. The daughter who takes
a tone you’ve never heard and never want to hear again requires thanks. The
husband who doesn’t always want the same things his wife wants requires thanks.
Because the gifts of God aren’t what makes God good.
HE. IS. GOOD.
No matter what. Despite
everything. All the time.
It’s hard to give thanks for circumstances we wouldn’t choose. It’s hard to give thanks when exactly what we
don’t want to happen, does. Yet it’s in
those moments that we truly live out our faith. If we can be grateful for the tough times, the
valleys, we show others what we truly believe.
We show that our trust and our hope are in God. And if we can look up and say, “Thank you,
God” when it’s the last thing in the world we want to do, we show Him what we really believe. That He is in control. That His timing is perfect. That He is all we need. It’s raining again today.
Thank you, God.
Psalm 34
I will always thank the Lord; I will never stop praising him.
I will praise him for what he has done; May all who are oppressed listen and be
glad!
Proclaim with me the Lord’s greatness; Let us praise his name together!
