March 13, 2018 Tuesday

“Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever. Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, Whom He has redeemed from the hand of the enemy, And gathered out of the lands, From the east and from the west, From the north and from the south.” (Psalm 107:1-3 NKJV)

            Do you think giving thanks is something you do on Thanksgiving?  Do you believe that we give thanks only for the good things in our lives?

            What we now know as Thanksgiving did not come from the Pilgrims but came from a decree by President Abraham Lincoln during the early years of the Civil War.  At a time when the Union forces were losing and it seemed the Confederacy was going to win Lincoln called for a day of Thanksgiving!

            In my own life I would call a day good because the circumstances of the day were good and I would call it a bad day when the circumstances were bad.  Do you feel like that?

            But the Psalmist makes no such basis for giving thanks for we are to give thanks no matter our circumstances.  The Psalmist tells us to give thanks because God is good.  No matter how things are in our lives we can give thanks because God is with us and God is good!

            If you are a Christians than you live under the mercy of God and marvel that this mercy endures forever!  Long beyond what you are going through, long beyond the pain and suffering you are going through, long beyond and sin you struggle with God’s mercy endures and is for you if you call.

“Let the redeemed of the LORD say so”.

            Proclaim to yourself, those around you and indeed to the whole world the wondrous mercy of God.  Share with others God’s mercy in your own life.  Tell others that you are saved and changed through the mercy of God and let them know God’s mercy is available for them.

            And then God will gather the harvest of souls from the east and the west and from the north and south!

            The pain is still terrible.  Time has no meaning when you are in pain.  What I just a couple of days seem weeks and months.  I struggle to remember that God is good even in the midst of the pain.  But then God calls me to pray for so many people in so many places and then my mind for awhile can concentrate on others and that relieves the pain.  It is dangerous to get to caught up in myself and to not remember God’s goodness and love and share His burden for those He loves.