Thank You Lord!

          For the past several weeks I have been sharing on hope, the power of prayer and the importance of trusting in God. I felt the need, however, this week to remind us to be thankful. At the end of the day, no matter what we go through, a heart of gratitude can carry us a long way.
         I have also wanted to share on the song, “Shall Not Want” by Elevation Worship and Maverick City. Now that I am going to share on being thankful, I feel that this is just the song to help me do that. 
         The chorus reads:
         I shall not want, I shall not want
         Oh, my soul’s got a shepherd in the valley and I shall not want
         I shall not want, I shall not want
         ‘Cause my cup’s running over, running over and I shall not want
When we look at Psalm 23, it is not a psalm of despair or discouragement. It’s a psalm that reminds us that no matter what we are going through our Shepherd is right there covering us, comforting us, blessing us as we go through. I love the line which says that we have a shepherd with us when we are going through our valleys. I look at the word “valley” and I think of tough, trying seasons, seasons of discouragement, of despair, when you wonder if you are going to make it through and make it out safely and in one piece. Yet, in Psalm 23:4, we are reminded that even when we traverse those tough valleys, we don’t have to be afraid because our God is there with us, comforting and encouraging us. It does not say that we won’t go through those valleys or that He will even take us out immediately, but it does encourage us that while there, we don’t have to be afraid because He will be there with us and He will comfort us in our valley. 
         When you look at the writer of this psalm, David, you know that he did not just write a song for the sake of writing a song. He went through a lot of trials and even at times I am sure feared for his very life. Yet, he learned trust and dependence on God through his trials; he discovered that his God is a present help in time of trouble and that He would never leave him or abandon him in his distress. 
         While being pursued by king Saul, of course he felt alone, of course he felt discouraged, of course he felt confused because he could not understand why his king was trying to kill him especially when he had done nothing wrong. Yet, I believe it was in this season that David developed an even greater intimacy with his God, that he truly experienced who God really is and how much his God truly loved him. This psalm I think is his personal testimony of that. It’s a song of thanksgiving, where David acknowledges God’s love and goodness to him. He is not complaining about how difficult his life is. He is not even expressing a desire to give up. He simply chooses to exalt his God who takes care of him even in the “valley of the shadow of death” (v.4).
         I believe we too need to have this same attitude of gratitude. Life is tough, we can’t escape that reality. Challenges are going to come. Jesus Himself said in John 16:33, “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” Jesus has already overcome. He has already won the battle and once we remain in Him and put our trust and confidence in Him we have the confidence that nothing that comes against us will ever be able to defeat us. 
       As I have said time and again, I have learned to be thankful not just in spite of trials but for them because these are the times when I am closest to God, when I learn valuable lessons that help me be stronger and wiser. My intimacy with God increases and that is always a good thing. I get to see God in action as He shows up and shows out in a powerful and mighty way. Think about it: if God did not take the Israelites along the path that led them to the Red Sea, they would never have witnessed the miracle of the parting of this large body of water as God made a way for them through it (Exodus 14). He could have taken them along a different path, He could have avoided the Red Sea but He did not. In the same way, God does not always take us through easier paths because He wants the opportunity to teach us to trust Him to do impossible things. And when He does the impossible, we get the opportunity to be thankful. 
         If you have not asked Jesus Christ to come into your life, I encourage you to do so now. We can’t always avoid difficult seasons but in Christ those difficult times can become opportunities to be thankful to the God who can help us make it through anything.

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