David, the Psalmist, a man after God’s own heart, was always willing and inclined towards giving thanks and acknowledging the goodness of the Lord God. His life circumstances never became a barrier when it came to witnessing and praising the Lord.
10,000 reasons to give thanks
God has been immeasurably good in all of our lives. When we read the words of the scripture portion in Psalm 103, we all are reminded of the most popular song of worship ’10,000 reasons’ by Contemporary Christian Music artist, Matt Redman. Here’s the YouTube link to this wonderful song that we, as a family, recorded for the glory of the Lord – https://youtu.be/oS-MepcnyeE. I can vouch that this is one of those songs that you can confidently play on repeat and will never feel tired. On the contrary, you will be filled with the presence of the Lord to praise Him and rejoice in His warmth.
As the songs says, we have 10,000 reasons and more to praise the Lord if only we take that time to look back to see how God has brought us through many ups and downs in life. Psalms 103:3-6 goes on to mention a few ways in which God reveals His love and faithfulness in our lives.
3 Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases,4 Who redeems your life from destruction, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies,5 Who satisfies your mouth with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. 6 The Lord executes righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed.
There is no end to the loving kindness and tender mercies that our God shows towards us. He is patient to forgive our shortcomings and sins. He is quick to come to our rescue in times of our weakness and sickness. He loves us so much that He only fills our lives with His absolute goodness and gives us the strength to overcome every storm that rages in our lives. He is always for us and fights every battle on our behalf to give us victory and drive out the enemy from taking control of our lives. We can go on and on to come up with reasons to prove how good our God is!
Press Pause to Praise Him
Our lives are so busy and filled with many distractions that we almost forget to sit back and recollect all the good things that come our way. Even when we do not see or feel, our loving Lord never stops working in our lives. We have been created in the likeness of God. His breath is in our lungs. We ought to praise Him always. Psalm 150:6 says, “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!” When we truly take time to press pause on our busy lives and look back, I am sure there will not be a day when you have not experienced the love, peace, encouragement, strength and the protection of the Lord.
I have experienced every single one of these attributes of the Lord in my life many a times. I would definitely like to press pause every now and then to acknowledge and thank the Lord for all He has been to my family and me. I am grateful that the Lord chose me from darkness and brought me out into His marvelous light through His salvation from a Hindu Brahmin background. I am grateful that the Lord gave me hope and future to be His witness when the world around me came to a screeching halt couple of years ago when cancer knocked on my doors. Today, He has made me a blessing and encouragement to many people, far and near. I am grateful for every day when the Lord fills me with His love, His peace and His protection over my family and me. I am grateful for all the experiences in this journey of life that made me stronger and more confident for God’s glory! I can keep going as the list of my blessings is long, and I fall short of words to express how thankful I am to be the chosen and beloved child of God!
Gratitude Challenge
In the era of social media, our lives are constantly filled with one challenge or the other with hundreds and thousands of hashtags floating in our newsfeeds to keep us busy day in and day out. It is okay to feel happy and participate in these little things of life to showcase our joy and pride to the world. However, as we do that, I would like to remind and encourage you to realize the source of such joy and show our gratitude to God, who is the giver of all good things to us. First Thessalonians 5:18 says, “18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” Therefore, my friends, who is with me to take on this challenge to give shout out to the Lord for all He is and all He has done. My prayer for you today is that you may experience more and more of the goodness and faithfulness of the Lord in every aspect of your lives and may your lives be filled with nothing but the blessings of the Lord!
RANJANI KARTHIK