Thank You

“You are my God, and I will give you thanks; you are my God, and I will exalt you. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.” Psalm 118:28-29

In the last week I have been around a lot of young children including my precious and beautiful niece. I have been reminded that at a young age children are taught to say please and thank you upon receiving anything. Being the week of Thanksgiving I thought more about this idea of being taught to say thank you after being given something more than I might normally. Even now my heart still associates thanksgiving with gifts. When I use these words 'thank you', it is typically after I have received something. This something isn't necessarily a gift but even things like time, help, or other expressions of kindness. This practice also carries over to my relationship with my heavenly Father. When I see my Father blessing me and giving me the desires of my heart, it is easy to say thank you. But when God’s goodness is not evident to my eyes, the thankfulness does not come as naturally. However, I am learning that faith and thanksgiving go hand in hand. I may not see all the wonderful things my Father is doing, but I have faith that He is always at work pouring out is grace, love, and mercy into my life and the lives of others. I have faith that God is faithful all the time and his promises are sure, therefore I can have a heart that remains thankful. And even when my eyes of faith become a bit hazy and I don’t see what the Lord is doing or understand it, I can remember that God is God, my God, and his love does endure forever, that in itself is enough to be thankful.