Whole30 Day 13 – Give Thanks to the Lord

Give thanks to the Lord, Our God and King
His love endures forever

Psalm 107:1

This morning I woke up thanking God – despite being ridiculously tired, despite wanting to roll over and go back to sleep, despite the trials Kevin and I are going through right now…despite all of that, I thanked God this morning. Because when you really break it down – we’re not on this Earth to be happy and carefree all the time. Ever since the fall of Man in Genesis 3 there has been sin and trials and tribulation in the world. We are going to have hardships. We are going to have struggles. We are going to go through things that make us want to cry out to God, “why have You forsaken me?” But the thing of it is….He hasn’t forsaken us, nor will He. He is always with us, His love endures forever, and He is simply waiting for us to remember how to have faith.

L.B. Cowman writes in his devotional book, “Streams in the Desert,” You will never learn faith in comfortable surroundings. God gives us His promises in a quiet hour, seals our covenants with great and gracious words, and then steps back, waiting to see how much we believe. He then allows the Tempter to come, and the ensuing test seems to contradict all that He has spoken. This is when faith wins its crown. This is the time to look up through the storm, and among the trembling, frightened sailors declare, “I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me” (Acts 27:25).

Wow. How awesome is that, right? How strong (or weak) is my faith when God steps back to see how I’m going to handle what Satan throws at me? When I read those words it was like a light went on over my head. Everything I’m going through isn’t because God hates me or is mad at me or has forsaken me. I’m going through it because I need to remember to believe. To have faith. To let everything go and rely on God. On my Savior. On my Healer. On my Deliverer.

Amen, and amen.

I’ve decided to postpone my Day13 eats for later today. Right now I want you to close your eyes, relax, give thanks, and have faith in the One who loves you more than you will ever know. Have faith that He is there.