Pinterest musings

There was a sign on Pinterest this morning. (Yes, I get on Pinterest in the mornings- don't judge me!)

The sign was this:

 

 

It’s so simple. Yet it struck me deeply. Am I thankful for today?

Am I thankful for a Wednesday hump day? For everything that comes with today? Attending meetings, writing wedding thank you notes, not getting home until late, being partially hungry all day because I never pack enough food…. Am I thankful for that?

Am I thankful for the day that bad news hits, things fall apart, hopes are crushed, and feelings are hurt…? Am I thankful for that?

November, as cliché as it sounds, seems like it’s the easiest month to remember to be thankful for. And I am thankful- for my husband, for my family, for food on our table, a beautiful house, wonderful friends… all of which is good and I should be thankful. But am I thankful for the days that the sun isn’t shining perfectly and life isn’t smiling in my favor?

Was Job thankful for the day that brought news of the death of, not one, but all of his children, and the news of the loss, of not some, but all of his wealth? Or the day that brought painful boils that made it excruciating to live, not one, but every day? Or the day his wife said “Curse God and die!”?

Was Job thankful?

Job 1:20-22 Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. 21 And he said, “Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong.”

We as believers are instructed in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18:  Rejoice always,  pray without ceasing,  give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

This seems all but impossible some days. But Job did it. Habakkuk did it. David did it. They were able to whisper words like these:

Though the fig tree does not bud
    and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
    and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
    and no cattle in the stalls,
¹⁸ yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
    I will be joyful in God my Savior.

¹⁹ The Sovereign Lord is my strength;
    he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
    he enables me to tread on the heights.

(Hab 3:17-19)

And God is showing me just how far I have to go. That if I want to have the faith and perseverance of the heroes of the faith, I have to learn to say “when there is nothing, yet will I rejoice in the Lord.

I. will. be. joyful. In God my Savior because the Lord is my strength.”

That is why we can be thankful for today… why I can be thankful for today. I am thankful for today because:

Today, God will be my strength. Today, God will be my stability. Today, God will enable me to walk through the darkest valleys. And today, God will be with me...

and I am thankful for any day that God loves me that much.