As we enter the season of Thanksgiving, I am reminded of just how thankful I am to God and all that he has blessed me with – salvation, health, family, church, and ministry just to name a few. As the hymn declares, “Count your many blessings and see what God has done.” Or as Richard Kowalske (Dr. K) often reminded me, “God is good all the time and all the time God is good because it is his nature.”
I ran across the following prayer of thanks that I believe displays the wonderful truth of God’s nature reflecting his goodness and blessings:
“Lord, I want to thank you for what you have already done. I am not going to wait until I see results or receive rewards; I am thanking you right now. I am not going to wait until I feel better or things look better; I am thanking you right now. I am not going to wait until people say they are sorry or until they stop talking about me; I am thanking you right now. I am not going to wait until the pain in my body disappears; I am thanking you right now. I am not going to wait until my financial situation improves; I am going to thank you right now. I am not going to wait until the children are asleep and the house is quiet; I am going to thank you right now. I am not going to wait until I get promoted at work or until I get the job; I am going to thank you right now. I am not going to wait until I understand every experience in my life that has caused me pain or grief; I am thanking you right now. I am not going to wait until the journey gets easier or the challenges are removed; I am thanking you right now.
I am thanking you because I am alive. I am thanking you because I made it through the day’s difficulties. I am thanking you because I have walked around the obstacles. I am thanking you because I have the ability and the opportunity to do more and do better. Lord, I’m thanking you because you haven’t given up on me.”
What a blessed assurance to know that God is for me and not against me. He has never given up on me and never will. The same is true for Belmont Baptist Church and its future. As we prepare to break ground on new facilities, I’m not going to wait until I see the building; I am thanking God now for what he is going to do. I’m not going to wait until I see how he works; I’m going to thank him now. I’m going to declare with the Psalmist, “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.”
Regardless of where we have been in life, where we are in life, what we are facing now or will face in the future, we can thank the Lord right now because he is good!
With a thankful heart,
Pastor Bill