USE THANKSGIVING AS A WEAPON
21st Jan 2015
Many years ago I was at home with my young children, Charles was overseas, and acting as a single parent wasn’t much fun! I watched the late news before retiring, and was informed that a prisoner was on the run near to where we were living, in addition the weather was wild. When the wind was in a particular direction our front door had a tendency to blow open even when it was supposed to be locked!
I couldn’t sleep, and as the hours ticked by I became more and more miserable and full of self-pity. Of course I prayed, but I think I was rehearsing my misery more than anything else. However, the Lord spoke to me and said, “Write a psalm of thanksgiving.” You can imagine my response; I wanted sleep not stimulation. After some time I chose to be obedient.
To begin with I couldn’t think of anything that warranted thanksgiving, but started by thanking the Lord that I was alive, warm, had a home, husband, children and a purpose in life. Gradually the heaviness was replaced by joy, I wrote with increasing speed until I could write no more. Then I fell into a deep refreshing sleep.
Morning came; the prisoner had been recaptured miles away, the door hadn’t blown open, my misery was replaced with genuine praise for the sheer goodness of God and the world around looked different. Thanksgiving always has a similar effect. When you recall the faithfulness of our heavenly Father it causes faith to rise and circumstances look different through the lens of hope.
Today, choose to recall God’s goodness to you personally and expect Him to act. He is with you and will help you. Psalm 46:1 says, “God is our refuge and strength, an ever present help in trouble.”
Psalm 107:13 says, “They cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress.”
In Philippians 4:6 Pauls encourages us to, “.... in everything by prayer and petition with thanksgiving present your requests to God.”
by Joyce Sibthorpe
