GIVE THANKS, AGAIN

Dear Worshipers,

Give thanks to the Lord for He is good. His love endures forever. Psalm 136.1 (NIV)

Sometimes it is easy to be thankful. Everything’s going your way. Finances are in order. Family is getting along. Friends are helpful, happy and healthy. Fears are stilled. It is easy in those moments to give thanks to the Lord, primary because you can see His goodness so clearly.

Other times you might find yourself having a difficult time being thankful. Checkbook is out of balance. Children are fighting. Companions are sad and sick. Concerns are looming. In these moments it can be very difficult to thank the Lord, primarily because you might not be able to see His goodness as clearly, if at all.

But let us always remember the last part of the verse. His love endures forever. It may look differently at times, but it endures. It may seem near sometimes and far away at others, but it still endures. It never fails. Forever is a really long time.

I was clinging to this just over a year ago as I drove with Sarah to Charleston to see my father-in-law. Having been transferred there from Beckley where they had started angioplasty, he had experienced a heart attack and in surgery undergoing a quadruple bypass. As I drove down I-79 we prayed, some together, some separately. All the while we were trusting in God’s enduring love. We hoped we would arrive to find that he had come through surgery beautifully, that he had not bled though he had been on blood thinners just days before, that the Lord was going to give him a little more time with us here.

Chances of all that happening were not great. A few doctors at WVU told him last spring they would not do the surgery because they felt as though he could not survive it. We hoped for the best, but feared the worst.

While we drove, I was thanking God for His faithful love. Thanking Him that no matter what happened I knew it was the best. Thanking him that we were close enough to get there quickly. Thanking Him for the times I had shared with Sarah’s dad. I praise God that I was able to see His goodness even in the uncertainty of the situation.

I praise God that all we prayed for He gave us. Sarah’s father came through “beautifully”, the doctors words. He did not bleed. Praise the Lord! That we would have a chance to talk to him even later that day, and then the next. He recovered well from that episode, and now we are trusting God for the next.

Her father will have surgery on his carotid artery next week. It is a high risk procedure. His blood oxygen level is below where it should be for this procedure. He is concerned he will have a stroke and suffer the consequences through the balance of his life, should he live.

There is much uncertainty, so we must have much faith. We are praying and trusting and thanking God for the last year with Sarah’s dad, and hope to have another by God’s grace. The last year has been an expression of His love to us. We can see that clearly now.

Next time you face some uncertainty, maybe later today. Thank God. Thank God right now that when that time comes you are confident His love will be faithful. Thank God for the way you are experiencing that today.

Let us give thanks to the Lord, for He certainly is good. His faithful love endures forever.

In Christ,

Pastor Scott