Thank You!

My wife and I finished moving a day ago. We were exhausted from moving furniture, boxes and bags of clothes. We raced against the clock to return our rented cargo van. So we unpacked our belongings and quickly put them against a nearby fence.

I didn't coordinate leaving the car at the rental agency so we walked back home. When I turned the corner of our street there was this strong impression to run down the hill to our apartment. A man had loaded two of our belongings into his car!

Then we struggled through the last day of the week to catch up with our demanding workload. On Saturday I opened the Bible to read a Psalms of thanksgiving. I praised Him for several minutes for His goodness and kindness. When I went to work a key program was not working. I buried my head in my hands grumbling but then stopped short. I made a choice to thank Him though the anxiety and panic was rising. I was so far behind that it was getting more difficult to keep pace. I was out of strength. My attitude to care was quickly fading.

When we can offer praise whenever we have failed or find ourselves in an uncomfortable circumstances - this pleases God more than trying to get ourselves out of it. These are what I call "teachable moments" when God wants to draw our attention to how we should respond when the pressure and heat intensifies. He has an answer if we are willing to thank Him for it before He makes a way through the problem (Isaiah 43:16-19).

Psalms 100 is like a medicine for a bad attitude - read, mediate and practice worship with these beautiful words. It will change both your attitude and altitude (you won't feel so low).


Psalm 100
A psalm. For giving grateful praise.

1 Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.
2 Worship the Lord with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs.
3 Know that the Lord is God.
It is he who made us, and not we ourselves;
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.
5 For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;
his faithfulness continues through all generations.

(BibleGateway NIV)