11/23/2017
As you look about you today, what are your distractions from faith, and what are those things that bless you as you seek out the Lord? When you begin your prayers this morning what will you thank God for, and what will you ask Him to help you overcome? Sometimes we find that it is the little things in life that bless us most... and it is the little things that trip up our faith.
“but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.”
Mark 4:19 ESV
We have so much to be thankful for each day... we have our faith in Jesus Christ, family, God’s Word, knowing how to pray, love, the problems that teach us, our suffering that draws us closer to Him, His wonderful creation that surrounds us, our inadequacies that make us lean on the Father, and His steady hand in our lives. There are so many reasons to thank God, but as we begin to pray we realize that the things in each of these categories of blessing which come to mind are small things...
We give thanks for the Sunday our child placed all of his allowance in the offering plate because he wanted Jesus to have it, we are thankful for the sudden revelation that we received in a scripture we had recited hundreds of times, we thank God for that one morning in prayer when we felt His presence so strong, we thank Him for the enthusiastic hug of our grandchild as she told us “I love you”, we thank God for revealing Himself when we bought lunch for a homeless man, we thank Him for the comfort He provided when a loved one passed away, we thank Him for the absolute wonder of a spring morning and a cup of coffee taken outside, and finally, we thank Him for our inability to solve a problem in a relationship, and for the way He suddenly took care of it when we gave it to Him. None of these things unlocked the world, but each one opened the doors of our faith a little wider.
When you pray today, don’t get tongue tied as you search for some monumental happenings that the world would say “Wow” to, but instead, give God thanks for those things that seemed so small here in our flesh, but were such amazing gifts in the spirit. Thank Him for removing the small distractions that impeded our faith, and give Him thanks for the incredible little happenings that whisper to us of Him every day.
“Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us, for we have had more than enough of contempt.”
Psalms 123:3 ESV
The little things... the small pebbles that cause us to slip, and the tiny sips of water that refresh us... God is in them all. Give Him thanks, even in our travail, because in everything He blesses us.
“For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God. So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.”
2 Corinthians 4:15-16 ESV
Prayer:
Father, I thank you for each breath I take that brings me the fragrance of your Son, and I thank you for each blink of my eye that sharpens my view of the gospel, and your Word. I thank you for the sound of my children and grandchildren who remind me that it is you who is my increase, and I thank you for the soft hair of my wife that reminds me of my covenants with you. All I have, and all that surrounds me is of your creation... and I thank you for it. My thankfulness knows no bounds, and flows from your love and provision for me... in body, and spirit. You are my God, and in you I want not, in you I find peace, in you is life everlasting through your Son Jesus Christ. Holy Father, my thanks gushes forth like the Gihon Spring and shouts of your glory; it sings of the redemption of Jesus, and extols His cleansing blood. Thank you Father for every little earthly gift and for the treasure each one has become in heaven.
Rich Forbes