The First Step—Just Saying “Thank You”

 “Praise the Lord for he has heard my cry for mercy. The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song.”

Thanksgiving is rapidly approaching and then in no time at all, it will be Christmas. The holiday season can be a wonderful time of celebrating with family and friends. But it can also be a time of experiencing acute loneliness and pain. When mere survival is tough, being thankful is difficult if not impossible.

A dear friend who lost both parents and her sister in a short period of time shared recently that it has been hard to be thankful in the midst of her overwhelming grief. She said, “I’m just not there yet!” but then added that she has finally gotten to the point of being able to say “thank you” to God. Just two small words… “thank you.”

“But I’ve taken the first step, don’t you think? Before, I couldn’t even say that!”

If you asked her, this courageous woman would say that it was with God’s help that she has managed to survive and to reach the beginning stage of thankfulness. It has taken her several years of dogged determination, often struggling to keep on going one day at a time. However, she never lost her faith in the Lord, believing that He loved her and was with her and finding comfort in reading the Bible.

King David, who composed many of the psalms in the Old Testament, also learned that God was always with him and that he could call upon him for help during times of trouble…troubled circumstances, a troubled heart or any other kind of trouble. Deliverance came when he stood firmly on the promises of God’s presence and on the belief that God heard his prayers.

This brought him great joy so that he could sing and praise God openly for all He had done in his life. As David wrote in verses 6-7 of Psalm 28, “Praise be to the Lord, for he has heard my cry for mercy. The Lord is my strength and my shield, my heart trusts in him and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song.

However, in the same psalm these verses were preceded by a desperate cry for mercy, a prayer for deliverance from persecution. At the end of Psalm 28, he could say with assurance, “The Lord is the strength of his people, a fortress of salvation for his anointed one.”

Not only did he attest to the fact that God saved him but also to the fact that God was (and is) the strength of His people. In the last verse of the psalm, he prayed “Save your people and bless your inheritance; be their shepherd and carry them forever.” After enduring much suffering, David was able to pray for others. Formerly a shepherd boy who cared for his father’s sheep, he knew that a good shepherd would never leave his sheep unattended. Just as the Lord was faithful throughout King David’s life, so He would continue to guide, protect and comfort His people.

Suffering is messy, painful, something we try to avoid, but a very real part of life. Last week the local power company took a chainsaw to the two large maple trees in our front yard, cutting branches that had grown up into the power lines. The end result was long bare stubs and fresh scars from the saws…ouch! I wince every time I see them, relating in a way to the pruning experience.

So how do we get beyond the pain to thanking God? First, we have to focus on the facts, on the truth about God’s character. Then we choose to believe and obey Him. All of this comes before feeling grateful. When we focus on our feelings instead of focusing on the Lord, it’s easy to get overcome with bitterness, anger or despair.

            This Thanksgiving, may we take the first steps of saying “Thank you!” and mean it!

Dear Lord, please help us stand upon your promises, be obedient to those things we know you want us to do and have the strength and determination to praise you in spite of our feelings. Strengthen your people who are suffering. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Have a thankful Thanksgiving!

Psalm 28:6-8 NIV