“The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me” (Ps.50:23)
“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks everywhere.” (1Thess.5:16)
“Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!” (2 Cor.9:15)
Heavenly Father, thank you for being incomparably kind and relentlessly generous. Though the world, the flesh, and the devil seek to keep us discontent and blind to your goodness—they’re fighting a losing battle. First of all, thank you for the “indescribable gift” of the Gospel. If we “only” had the Gospel, we have everything we need and more than we could ever desire; because the Gospel is Jesus and everything in him.
Thank you for your commitment to finish your work in us and the cosmos on the perfect Day (Phil.1:6). Thank you for loving us today as much as you will love us on that Day. Never let us forget that you love us to the degree we are in Christ, not like Christ.
Thank you for being tenaciously at work for our good in all things: In the things that thrill us, bug us, exasperate us, and enrage us. In the the wounds that still hurt us and the failures that still haunt us. In the “unanswered” prayers and in unexpected gifts.
In delayed flights and countless delights. In the best fishing trip imaginable and the worst family vacation conceivable. In circumstances we can’t control and people we wish we could. In the illnesses of our friends and the heartaches in our stories.
Thank you for being sovereign over everything. That doesn’t make life easy, but it keeps us sane, hopeful, and trusting. Thank you for being good all the time—not by our math, but by yours; when we see it, and when we don’t. Hallelujah, and So Very Amen.
