“Oh Lord, we thank You!”
It’s a phrase we should share with Him every day.
In our waking up.
In our lying down.
In our everyday ins-and-outs.
“Oh Lord, we thank You!”
I know in my life, I can often get caught up in only sharing and praying the “play-by-play” of the things immediately at hand in my daily living. I tend to dwell on just my needs and shortfalls in the moment. I ask for forgiveness and grace. I call out in the agony of loss or feelings of isolation.
Now let me be clear: these things are NOT bad things to exchange with our LORD. I firmly believe that because God is relational, He deeply desires that we share every moment of our lives with Him. And, He wants to hear our thoughts and emotions. After all, it is He who blessed us with them in the first place.
But what about thanking Him?
I know that I can be very lavish in my praise and gratitude when He blesses me, my family, or even those around me. But it wasn’t always so for me. Often, my prayer life was more fervent in and through the tough stuff than when I was experiencing those mountain-top moments of breakthrough or deliverance. Happily, I noted this imbalance some time ago and have actually made some positive strides in celebrating and praising more as moments come in these areas.
However, I have also recently come to recognize that our thankfulness should probably run much deeper than just inhabiting our obvious moments of triumph. I have been awakened to the fact that the mere presence of God with us; is an ongoing cause for thanks. His presence is not an occasional presence, nor is it solely a “standing beside me in the midst of the storm” presence. It is an abiding presence in each moment of every day.
Just the other day, I read the following thought from Craig Groeschel in a daily devotional that I have been pursuing:
“When we face our deepest struggles, we can rest in the fact that our God is always with us. In fact, in the book of Isaiah, Jesus is called Immanuel, meaning “God is with us. When we’re struggling to find peace in the middle of our circumstances, sometimes the best thing we can do is to acknowledge God is with us and thank Him for the gift of His presence.”
Every day, He is with me. I have His encouragement, conviction, peace, strength, and council through His precious Word available for me to draw from. It is NOT momentary. It is intentionally ever-present and ingrained. All of this is made stronger within me as I recognize His presence and give thanks for it daily. In words, thoughts, and actions, may we give thanks for all we can receive from just the mere presence of the Lord Almighty.
He was here before.
He is here now.
He will be here tomorrow and beyond.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. Psalm 23:4(ESV).
“Oh Lord, we thank You!”
