A Time to Celebrate

Happy Anniversary everyone! Yes, we are celebrating the 1st Anniversary of the morning blog.

I’ve been sharing for years on Facebook but it wasn’t until mid-July last year that a dear friend, Tom, set up this blog for me. I hope you have been encouraged by God’s Word as you joined me during the past year.

The other day I was watching a television show and one of the characters made a comment about her grandmother. She said, “Gran faces crises in such a quiet way. She just prays. I can’t sit and do nothing like she does. I have to act.”

I’ve been mulling that over and I’m sure that many people feel that way. They think that praying is an inactive, passive way of handling life’s challenges.

Far from it!

What an appropriate Scripture was part of my reading this morning. It’s filled with action.

“Give thanks to the Lord and call out to him! Tell the nations what he has done!
² Sing to him; sing praises to him. Tell about the amazing things he has done.
³ Be proud of his holy name. You followers of the Lord, be happy!
⁴ Depend on the Lord for strength. Always go to him for help.
⁵ Remember the amazing things he has done. Remember his miracles and his fair decisions.” Psalm 105:1-5 ERV

Look at all those action words; Give, Call, Tell, Sing, Be Proud, Be Happy, Depend, Go, Remember.  Far from a passive life.

There have been times when people have asked me to pray about something specific. A thing that they thought was completely overwhelming. We would pray and they would see the answer powerfully. Then a few weeks later they would be call in a panic and ask me to pray  about another crisis, as if they had completely forgotten about the way the Lord had provided the last time.

We need to continually remind ourselves of all the amazing things that God has done in us, through us and for us. This will not only encourage us when we face the next challenge, big or small, but it will also be a reminder to those around us of the goodness of our Father.

“My soul, praise the Lord! Every part of me, praise his holy name!
² My soul, praise the Lord and never forget how kind he is!
³ He forgives all our sins and heals all our sicknesses.
⁴ He saves us from the grave, and he gives us love and compassion.
⁵ He gives us plenty of good things. He makes us young again, like an eagle that grows new feathers.” Psalm 103:1-5 ERV

The psalmist David talks to his “soul” in this Psalm. Our soul is our very core; the heart of our emotions and stability. How important it is that we follow David’s instruction to never forget.

I think that’s one of the reasons I love the early morning so much. It gives me time to remember and to rehearse what the Lord has done in the past, strengthening me to face this day and all that it has. Part of that reminiscing is prompted by the birds that rise before dawn – quail, dove, hummingbirds, sparrows, finches, meadowlarks, whippoorwills. The first thing they do every morning is sing!

Jesus told us that the Father loves and cares for the birds but we mean so much more to Him than they do. So shouldn’t we start our day like them, singing?

“So I tell you, don’t worry about the things you need to live—what you will eat, drink, or wear. Life is more important than food, and the body is more important than what you put on it. ²⁶ Look at the birds. They don’t plant, harvest, or save food in barns, but your heavenly Father feeds them. Don’t you know you are worth much more than they are? ²⁷ You cannot add any time to your life by worrying about it… “Don’t worry and say, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ ³² That’s what those people who don’t know God are always thinking about. Don’t worry, because your Father in heaven knows that you need all these things. ³³ What you should want most is God’s kingdom and doing what he wants you to do. Then he will give you all these other things you need.” Matthew 6:25-33 ERV

During the last year I hope you have been stimulated in your faith; trusting the Lord more today than you did last year at this time.

Join me in having a piece of cake, singing to the Lord, remembering His goodness from the past and praising Him for the year ahead.

God bless you all.