As I woke up this morning, before getting out of bed, I began to pray. In a few hours, my brother and I would be picking up his friend Jamal to spend Thanksgiving with our family. Jamal is a Somalian Muslim man whom my brother met at the Global Market in Minneapolis. Soon after we learned that we would be spending Thanksgiving in Minnesota, and that Jamal would be joining our family, we've been praying that he would encounter Jesus Christ, the one and true God, through our interaction with him. I also prayed for Pam, my administrative assistant. Her family invited two of her unsaved neighbors to spend Thanksgiving with them. Then I thought of Sue Ann, a colleague of mine who lost her husband a few months ago to a very rare disease. This would be her first Thanksgiving without him, and she expressed to me how difficult it would be. Names flooded my mind, and I prayed.
All of these were "good" requests to bring before the Lord, from the salvation of souls to peace and comfort for those who are hurting. But one thing was devoid from my early morning prayers, and that was giving thanks--praising God for both His gifts and His character. You would think that this would be the first thought on my mind as I woke up this morning especially, but it took a while before I heard God gently reminding me to praise Him from whom all blessings flow.
Psalm 95:1-3 reads, "Oh come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise! For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods." The Psalmist's thanksgiving to God always poured forth from an understanding of the character of God. If I am lacking in gratitude, I am lacking in a vision of who God is. In these verses, the Psalmist says that God is a "great God...a great King." Do I truly see God as great? Or have I become rather comfortable with Him, taking advantage of our "friendship" and not standing in awe of His holiness? Do I understand the implications that He is THE King above ALL gods? The extent of His sovereignty is both mind-boggling and comforting. This is the God whom we serve, who called us out of our life (or should I say death) of sinfulness, and into the inexpressible glory of His presence. So tonight I am going back to the basics. I am going to thank God once again that He is holy and sovereign, that He is the King of the nations, and that He has given me the gift of eternal salvation. Praise be to God!
3 comments:
Good thoughts. Can't remember if i already mentioned this to you and if i have, my apologies, but Abraham Joshua Heschel is the writer who pointed me in the direction of awe for God's creation. And now i believe it to be one of the defining characteristics of a Christian: the ability to view creation from a "wide angle" and with a striking depth that reveals a portion of God's infinity and eternality, without, of course, revealing more than just a speck.
A Christian and a non-Christian can both look at the same thing, whether it be a butterfly, mountain, glass of water, or a tube of mercury, and come to two completely opposite conclusions on how it got there, why it's there, who put it there and what it means for us.
If we as believers tends toward the "vending machine" prayers or prayers focused around our anxiety for the unknown or uncontrollable things in life, our hearts and minds will more quickly slip into conformity with the world than if are prayers are often focused on the Majesty, Beauty, Strength and Infinity of God.
Anyways, Happy Thanksgiving to you too. And good thoughts. I like "stream of consciousness" writing or "rough sketches" or "incomplete ideas" (not that this post was any of those, but you know what i mean).
I would like to read Heschel. I was first introduced to his writings at Wheaton Grad School, but mostly through other authors quoting him. Thanks for mentioning him.
I was thinking along these lines yesterday while driving through Minneapolis with my brother. He mentioned the beauty of the city which was quite a site lit up at night, but my gaze turned toward the full moon perfectly illuminating the heavens. I began praising God and acknowledging His good work. Man creates cityscapes made of pre-existant material; God paints the heavens ex nihilo. Wow!
This is sort of a tangential thought, but my point is that I agree that God enables His children to see the world through a different lens, and from that lens to experience the fullness of joy and life that He intended for us. I think giving us "life abundantly" (Jn. 10:10) is most certainly eternal life, but also includes an exalted view of God while we are on earth. Then we can see creation, and in so doing, the majesty of the Creator!
Oh, and thanks for taking the time to read and comment on the rough sketches!
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