A Moment of Thanks

I don’t know about anyone else, but all the negativity that is circulating around today has been pretty taxing. It seems like, everywhere we look, people are fighting and attacking each other or only speaking about how bad their life is going. I, myself, have found myself speaking more negatively than positively lately. About a week ago, Rebecca and I were talking and she told me that, instead of allowing life to take me down a spiral of sadness and anger, I should try to spiral up toward Christ. As I sit down to read today, my heart was charged by this psalm. 

Psalm 138

I give You thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart; 

before the gods I sing Your praise;

I bow down toward Your holy temple 

and give thanks to Your name for Your 

steadfast love and Your faithfulness; 

for You have exalted Your name and Your word 

above everything.

On the day I called, You answered me, 

You increased my strength of soul. 

All the kings of the earth shall praise You, O Lord, 

for they have heard the words of Your mouth. 

They shall sing of the ways of the Lord, 

for great is the glory of the Lord.

For though the Lord is high, He regards the lowly; 

but the haughty He perceives from far away. 

Though I walk in the midst of trouble, 

You preserve me against the wrath of my enemies;

You stretch out Your hand, 

and Your right hand delivers me.

The Lord will fulfill His purpose for me; 

Your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever.

Do not forsake the work of Your hands.

I don’t know about you, but this had me crying. Through all of the bad stuff, I’ve forgotten to take time to thank God for the blessings He’s sewn into my life. No bad moment, angry post, or sad news could compare to how good life with Christ is. 

I know I cannot be the only one. It is so hard when struggling through hard and sad things to look for the good but, I promise, there’s good hiding behind every bad thing. I’m not saying that every one of those things are going to be exciting or shiny or fantastic. The good behind the bad might just be that your coffee spilled but it didn’t stain your favorite shirt. It is still worth thanking Him for. 

Not only does God abundantly bless us, He loves us fully and faithfully. In the tough moments, it is so easy to forget that He’s sitting next to me, reaching to me, and it’s even easier to succumb to big, negative emotions. It is always the easier way out to let that sadness and pain overcome you. I am 100% an advocate for feeling your feelings but, it’s impossible to let go of them if you suppress them or let them control your life. 

In the last three days alone, I have had countless opportunities to let go of anger, walk away from fear, and choose joy. I have taken none of them. Each time, He has been there, ready to comfort me and wrap me in the security of His faithful, unconditional love. It doesn’t just affect you as an individual, it affects everyone around you. How can we keep building a life built on joy and faith in God when we let outside forces get in the way?

The answer? We can’t. What can we do to change it? We can reach toward the Father and give even just a moment of thanks to Him for the graces He’s poured into our lives, in the good moments and the hard moments. 

That moment will look different for each of us. For some, it may be singing your favorite worship song. For others, it’s taking five minutes to stop what you’re doing and have time in prayer with Him. That’s the beautiful thing. As uniquely as He made each of us, our relationships with Him are just as unique. They belong to you and Him alone. 

I encourage you, no matter where you are right now, no matter what you’re doing, to stop and give a moment of thanks. I like to give thanks in the form of prayer writing. I’ll include one below if you want to pray on it for your moment of thanks, but your moment should be exactly what you want it to be. 

Take this week to find ways to spend time with Him even just for a moment. He will always be there, ready to spend that precious time with you. 

A Prayer of Thanks

Father God, I thank You for the gift of today. 

Thank You for giving me 24 more hours to grow into a stronger relationship with You and spread Your joy in all that I do. 

God, Your grace is abundant and Your mercy is precious. 

Help me today to share both Your grace and mercy 

with myself and others in the difficult moments I’ll face today. 

You love us with no conditions. You take us as we are. 

Lord, thank You for loving me so well, for walking at my side amid the storm, and for giving me the armor to weather it all. 

I pray that you will walk with me as I continue throughout my day. 

I pray all this in Jesus’ name, Amen.