Thanksgiving Yesterday, Today, Forever.
Psalm 40:5 – Many, LORD my God, are the wonders you have done, the things you planned for us. None can compare with you; were I to speak and tell of your deeds, they would be too many to declare.
This verse invites tenderly invites to ask some simple questions and personally answer them as we spend our quiet time with God. I’ll pose some questions and encourage you to quietly ponder the answers as you look at the way God has been at work in your life. Let it be a time of quiet and joyful thanksgiving for you.
How has God been at work in your life? As you look at your past what has God done? It might be something astounding. It might be pretty boring. Think spiritual – how has God been working in your life of faith, bringing you to faith and keeping you in faith? Think physically – how has God been working in your earthly life, taking care of you, protecting you, sustaining you? Take some time. Don’t hurry through this. Take the length of the song to thank and pray.
How IS God at work in your life? As you look at your life currently, as it presently is, how is God working? Again, think spiritual – what has God done for you in your faith? How has God grown you in your faith either by teaching or by experience? What have you experienced in life that has instructed you about faith things? Again, think physical – how is God taking care of you and giving you this day your daily bread? Don’t hurry. Pause. Make a list. Rejoice in God’s goodness to you. Take the length of the song to meditate and ponder.
The God who has been with you in the past, who is with you in the present moment, will be with you in the future as he gives it to us. He will guide the future as he has the past. He still controls the waves just like he did while he lived below. He is your God and your Savior. Just imagine what he can do. Imagine what he will do. Since he has done all that he has done and is doing, he will certainly do even more. God isn’t finished with you or with me yet. He still has more in store for us. And he can and will do even more than we can begin to imagine (cf. Ephesians 3:20-21).
PRAYER::
Lord God, I thank you for all that you have done and are doing in my life. Were I to list all the things you have done for me there would not be enough books. God, I praise you for all your wonderful deeds. I thank you for still working in me and in my life today. I can’t wait to see what you’ll do and how you’ll work. I’m sure my dreams of tomorrow will pale in comparison to the wonderful things you’ll do for me. Amen.