Oh Give Thanks
On Saturday 12th August my colleagues and I
visited a school in Mukono as part of our Employee volunteering activity. We
got to meet some of the students and had one on one discussions with them. I
met with a young girl called Kevin (not real name) and we had a very
interesting chat. She was interested in knowing how I have made it in life and
through school and wondered whether she can become anything much considering
she is in a school that is hardly heard of and with a high rate of school drop
outs because of early pregnancies or lack of school fees.
While I don’t think I have made it in life yet, her question
made me quickly thank God for his grace and favour that have brought me this
far. I reflected on my life and as I spoke to her and shared my life story with
her, I realized that I had nothing much to do with the successes I have today.
I read hard, but I know people who read harder, I worked hard and know people
that worked harder, I prayed but I also know people that prayed really hard.
All in all it came to one thing, the Lord has favoured me and has shown me his
goodness.
If we each stopped and reflected on our lives, we would have
so many things to give thanks for. Give thanks for the fact that you have a
home, give thanks for your children, give thanks that you can go to bed
peacefully, give thanks for your friends, give thanks you can breathe unaided,
give thanks you are alive, give thanks even for the things yet to come. There
is someone who desires to have what you have and therefore let’s not focus our
attention on what we don’t have but rather, let’s give thanks.
Psalm 118:1 says Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
his love endures forever.
The call to give thanks to God in this verse is not
conditional. It is a call to all and it is not subject to circumstances. The psalmist
gives thanks to God acknowledging God’s nature as being ‘good’ God.
It’s very easy to think that we should only give thanks when
things are working in our favour, in the good times or when God has given us
something we have been praying and believing for. But that’s not the case, we
ought to give thanks at all times knowing that God in his goodness and love is
working all things out for the good of those that love him.
What situation has been holding you back from giving thanks?
Choose today to give thanks
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