Give Thanks to Him
The Lord is my strength and my shield; in Him my heart trusts; so I am helped, and my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to Him.
Psalm 28:7
Friends,
I like being barefoot. I am not anti-shoe, but given the chance getting out of the shoes I have worn all day is one of those ordinary and small celebrations at the end of a long day.
A couple of days ago I had something in my shoe that was poking the bottom of my foot. I took the offending shoe off, shook it out and rubbed the bottom of my foot. With my shoe back on I assumed I had vanquished the annoyance only to discover the poking in my foot remained. Convinced I had just missed it the last time, I repeated my efforts to remove whatever was in my shoe. No luck. It would be hours later when I got home that I discovered the truth: in my barefoot walking, I had picked up a splinter. The splinter was in a hard to reach place and though I could feel it, I couldn’t see it. It took tweezers and some help to finally be free.
It is amazing how good it felt to walk again without the shooting discomfort in my foot. Just about every day I wake up and when my feet hit the floor I don’t think about them at all. It wasn’t until they hurt that I gave much thought at all to the amazing gift of having feet to carry me through the day. I am no fan of pain– but sometimes it serves up lessons that we often miss without its teaching.
I am struck again how often I fail to appreciate health, wholeness and peace until they are taken away or threatened. I don’t want to take things for granted. I want to live rooted in gratitude.
I would rather sit at the feet of Psalm 28 than to rely on pain and loss to teach me how precious my blessings are. Life is better, richer and more beautiful when I know that the Lord is my strength and my protection. I am more faithful and less fearful when I turn to the Lord for help and place my trust in Him.
And whether I am learning from splinters or more properly from scripture, I am thankful for a God of grace and for the great blessing of sharing this season with this community. I do not know all that God has planned for the people of University, but I am filled with hope and courage for the present work and the future possibilities that are before us.
In gratitude,
Pastor Ben