I am thankful for many things.
I am thankful for Ricky.
I am thankful for my family.
I am thankful for all of my friends.
There is something else that I am thankful for as well. It is something that I only recently acknowledged as something that I need to be thankful for. A song brought it to my attention.
I thank Thee, Lord, that Thou has kept the best in store;
We have enough yet not too much to long for more,
A yearning for a deeper peace
Not known before.
(My God, I Thank Thee. By Adelaide A. Proctor)
That first line- go back and read it again.
When it comes down to it, is it not thanking God for problems?
Acknowledging that God has kept the best in store is the same as acknowledging that right now, we have less than the best.
Thank you, God, for the problems, the imperfect things, people, and situations that You have given me. Thank you for giving us this now, so that later, we can have that. It is so good that You have made it this way.
Can I be content with less than perfect?
It’s important to be able to do that, because right now? Imperfection is all that we have.
We need to be content with doing our best, because that is all we can do. God can take the tiniest, most genuine offering and make it enough. He did it all the time in the Bible.
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not unto your own understanding. “
Even when it feels wrong- when it feels like you are wrong, when it feels like others are wrong, when it feels like the place is wrong- it can be okay. Trust God’s understanding, not yours. It says to trust God and lean not unto your own understanding. Sometimes trusting God is the opposite of what your understanding of the situation would be.
Trust anyways. Forget yourself.
Our situation may not feel okay- might actually not be okay, according to our own understanding, but we are alright.
God has made it that way.
He has allowed imperfection for now, but given us the opportunity to choose peace in the midst of that.
The best is yet to come.
I have learned to love the rugged depth of that song over the last year or so, Jasmine. Even the verse that says “I thank thee Lord that all our joy is touched with pain…”. What a beauty paradox. Thanks for sharing! By the way, I think this “write every other day in October” is a really good idea and you should quite seriously consider digging it again for November! 🙂
Well, I am so glad that you have enjoyed it! I am having fun, but I believe that I will leave “Write every other day November” in your hands. I’d love to read your writing all November long! =) (And after that, as well. :P)