Be Thankful and Rejoice…
By: Shanna Cole
James 5:13
Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful, let them sing psalms.
Do you ever feel like you are constantly praying but never getting the answers you think you want? Did you catch that, the answers you “think” you want. Have you taken the time to think about how you pray? We are to come to the Lord daily in thanksgiving. We’re told multiple times throughout the BIble to thank God for all things, for they are the will of God. 1 Thessalonians 5:18, Psalm 136:26 & Philippians 4:1, just to name a few.
If you are suffering, pray. If you are doing good, pray. But no matter what, remember to sing God’s praises from the rooftop. Theoretically of course, let's not go standing on the rooftops, haha. Let other people hear and see how God is working in your life. We are going to have bad days and trials, that is life. But we must remind ourselves, God has a purpose for all things, we can find silver linings. He knows it all. He sees and hears all things, we know nothing about. He is protecting us, even if we feel like he's ignoring us.
I have shared with you about our home buying journey a few times. All of my worries and concerns that I had, even though I know I'm not supposed to do that. I know I am supposed to just leave it with God. Some days that is way easier than others, as I go through this transition in my life, to learn to 100% leave things with him. Just so you are aware, I still struggle with remembering to praise God in the middle of a struggle, this is a process. He give us so much grace.
When we had finally been approved for our home I was thanking God so many times. But I was still so reserved, because it had fallen through so many times. It is not that I was not truly thankful we had gotten that far. But getting that far and being let down multiple times, made it tough to take that full sigh of relief until it was completed. I knew it was all in God's hands. No matter the outcome, I was still going to write this book, sing and praise God. I knew that even if for some reason we ended up not getting to buy our home, he would have something better in store for us. Here we are 3 years later, in our home.
As you go about your day today, try to think of some small things you don’t typically thank God for. The current bible study I am doing has a place to write a thankful prayer each day, and I love it. It makes me have to slow down and think about the little things I might have overlooked throughout the day. It’s easy to write down your thankfulness for your family, house and health. Not that you shouldn’t always be thankful for those things. But try to add to it every day.. It doesn’t necessarily get harder, there is plenty to be thankful and rejoice about, it just slows you down enough to smell the wildflowers and thank God for them.
