A Grateful Heart
Thank you is the most common and easy phrase, yet many find it difficult to say it. The other day, I decided to pick a few things from my local super market. While waiting in the queue; I noticed, the young lady behind me has only two items in her hands. As I was loading my shopping on the belt at check out I asked her, “Do you want to go in front of me?”. Without a word, she walked pass me, then put her shoppping in front of mine. The next thing I said to her was “do you know how to say thank you?”.
It’s easier for us to tell our children and others to say thank you; but how many times do we say thank you to God? Thanking God should be a life style but most of the time we complain of the many things including what we do not have. We have children, food to eat, jobs, clothes to wear etc etc….but we mostly focus on what we haven’t achieved or do not have.
Some of us before we married used to pray for a companion. You marry! Then we pray to have children, we do then we start complaining. The song writer says count your blessings name them one by one and it will surprise you what the Lord has done.
For the singles, enjoy your single life as you continue to trust in the Lord for your man. Be thankful and if He gives you a word, hold on to it and trust Him.
As a single mum, may the Lord continue to strengthen you and give you grace to hold. Being grateful and thankful is a choice. It’s a decision that you and I have to choose to make.
We will never truly thank God until we first truly trust Him. We will not be grateful to God for all that we have until we first recognize that we’re dependent on Him for all that we have.
By nature, we’re not trusting creatures. We’re creatures of necessity. We trust God when we’re forced to trust Him because our problems go beyond our abilities. The rest of the time, we get along just fine by ourselves. If we can solve the problem by ourselves, we don’t resort to prayer and trusting God, because we don’t need to trust Him. But it’s only when we come to the end of ourselves and cast ourselves in total dependence on the Lord that we begin to experience genuine praise and thanksgiving.
Psalm 33 says:
1 Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous!
For praise from the upright is beautiful.
2 Praise the Lord with the harp;
Make melody to Him with an instrument of ten strings.
3 Sing to Him a new song;
Play skillfully with a shout of joy.
4 For the word of the Lord is right,
And all His work is done in truth.
5 He loves righteousness and justice;
The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.
6 By the word of the Lord the heavens were made,
And all the host of them by the breath of His mouth.
7 He gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap;[a]
He lays up the deep in storehouses.
8 Let all the earth fear the Lord;
Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him.
9 For He spoke, and it was done;
He commanded, and it stood fast.
10 The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing;
He makes the plans of the peoples of no effect.
11 The counsel of the Lord stands forever,
The plans of His heart to all generations.
12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,
The people He has chosen as His own inheritance.
13 The Lord looks from heaven;
He sees all the sons of men.
14 From the place of His dwelling He looks
On all the inhabitants of the earth;
15 He fashions their hearts individually;
He considers all their works.
16 No king is saved by the multitude of an army;
A mighty man is not delivered by great strength.
17 A horse is a vain hope for safety;
Neither shall it deliver any by its great strength.
18 Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him,
On those who hope in His mercy,
19 To deliver their soul from death,
And to keep them alive in famine.
20 Our soul waits for the Lord;
He is our help and our shield.
21 For our heart shall rejoice in Him,
Because we have trusted in His holy name.
22 Let Your mercy, O Lord, be upon us,
Just as we hope in You.