It is time to write my post and link my heart with the hearts of others at Ann's Gratitude Community as we count the blessings that have come to us from the Father's hand. Usually I try to list all of those special moments when I have seen His grace and goodness in my life and the lives of those around me. They are, inevitably, the good moments - the joy and unexpected glimpses of His presence.
Some weeks it is a bit more difficult to write a long list - not because He is any less than who He always is, but because I am somehow not able to see the blessings. They are obscured by clouds of darkness. It is at those times I remember that He has told me to "give thanks in all circumstance..." (I Thess. 5:18)- to tell my heart who He is and what He has done. And it is in the telling that gratitude begins to fill the dark corners of my heart and indefinable joy bubbles to the surface.
It has been a week filled with joy and sorrow, good things and hard things, hope and disappointment. I wasn't going to write a post today. Then I heard this song, and my heart remembered.
"God Wants to Hear You Sing"
Their chains were fastened tight
Down at the jail that night
Still Paul and Silas would not be dismayed
They said, “It’s time to lift our voice, sing praises to the Lord
Let’s prove that we will trust Him come what may”
God wants to hear you sing
When the waves are crashing ’round you
When the fiery darts surround you
When despair is all you see
God wants to hear your voice
When the wisest man has spoken
And says, “Your circumstance is as hopeless as can be”
That’s when God wants to hear you sing
He loves to hear our praise on our cheerful days
When the pleasant times outweigh the bad, by far
But when suffering comes along
And we still sing Him songs
That is when we bless the Father’s heart."
Rodney Griffin
I thank You Father:
- for Your promise to never leave us or forsake us
- for the comfort of knowing that You are the same yesterday, today and forever
- that Your plans for our lives are good plans
- that Your love is unconditional and Your grace immeasurable
- that You are good, all the time
- for the perfect joy of time spent with loved ones
- for laughter and tears
- for shared heartache and tender embraces
- for listening hearts
- for good books, worn from the reading, that bring such a sense of comfort and peace
- for grandchildren who grow inches when your back is turned for a few seconds
- for answered prayer and unanswered prayer and the knowledge that You see beyond this moment and know what is best
linking to Ann's Gratitude Community
Blessings,
Linda
