Even Still

Today it is snowing in April and it is easy to be ungrateful and annoyed at every falling snowflake. Just yesterday I ran outside with my Marmee dog and today I wouldn't dare try such a thing. I think I might freeze to death! The bitter cold bites through the air and I am beyond irritated. Still, the snow continues to fall and the sun continues to hide behind the gray clouds. I realize at this point that there is absolutely nothing I can do to make the weather situation any better. All I can do is sit inside and wait for the cold to pass by, for the warmth to return. I can choose joy where I am and find the goodness in the white-covered ground. Give thanks, and praise the One who created it all.

It's funny how perspective changes things, isn't it?

Psalm 107: 1-9

Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good;

His love endures forever.

Let the redeemed of the LORD tell their story - 

those He redeemed from the hand of the foe,

those He gathered from the lands,

from east and west, from north and south.

Some wandered in desert wastelands,

finding no way to a city where they could settle.

They were hungry and thirsty,

and their lives ebbed away,

Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble,

and He delivered them from their distress,

He led them by a straight way

to a city where they could settle,

Let them give thanks to the LORD for His unfailing love

and His wonderful deeds for mankind,

for He satisfies the thirsty,

and fills the hungry with good things.

In this psalm the writer describes a people of God who, before calamity struck, knew that the Lord's love would endure forever. They wanted to thank Him for what He had already done for them. Of course, it's easy to give thanks when everything is going how you had planned it to. When God has already redeemed us from the pit and rescued us from our foes we readily praise Him and see His goodness in our lives. 

But what about at our low points - in our valleys and hard places? Where is our thanksgiving then? In this psalm we see that the people were thankful for a time, but then they wandered away, and they wondered why their lives were no longer as wonderful as they once had been. It says that they were hungry and thirsty, and that their lives were basically hanging by a thread. Then, and only then, did they seek God. Not before, when they were just annoyed by snow falling in April, but not until they were on their last breath - throats tied up and barely breathing. 

Do we ever wonder what would happen if we sought God sooner on? If we decided to include Him in our daily lives no matter how irritated we were by the weather or whatever other situation was nagging at us? I think if we sought Him sooner, we would see His goodness and give thanks, which is really the point of it all anyways - to see God's goodness in every situation, to see our daily lives as they truly are - grace. 

For He is always faithful,

always loving,

always giving us good gifts,

always satisfying our thirst,

and always filling us with His unending joy.

Choose to seek God today through the snow, through the irritability, and even through hard situations that can seem unbearable at times. If you have waited to seek God to a point where you truly are hanging by a thread, choose to seek Him now. His loving arms are always open, and He always desires to fill your heart with a peace and joy that can only come from Him.

In Christ,

Lauren