Thankful Thursday: God

Remember a few months back, when I wrote about how life was hard?

It still is.

It might even be harder.

About a month ago, my body started doing weird things. I cry a half dozen times a day for reasons I don’t understand. Absolutely everything, and nothing, sets me off.

I am volatile, fragile, broken. God is not.

This week I’m thankful…

…for a Omniscient God
I don’t exactly know what’s going on with my body. Neither does my doctor. I don’t know exactly why I’m crying. Neither does Daniel. But God knows.

“O Lord, you have searched me and known me!
You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
you discern my thoughts from afar.
You search out my path and my lying down
and are acquainted with all my ways.
Even before a word is on my tongue,
behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.”
~Psalm 139:1-4 (ESV)

…for for a Sympathetic God
Jesus never dealt with female problems, but He did deal with all the temptations that come along with mine. He was tempted to be selfish, to speak rashly, to be unforgiving. He was tempted to manipulate, to give up, to despair. Yet He withstood all those temptations. And He, as my High Priest, sympathizes with my weakness.

“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.”
~Hebrews 4:15 (ESV)

…for a Caring God
My temptation can be to worry. To worry about my body, about how my moods are effecting Daniel, about money, about laundry getting done, about the house getting cleaned. Yet I have a God who cares about me, who cares for me, who will clothe me and feed me and house me.

“And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”
~Matthew 6:28-33 (ESV)

…for a Sovereign God

When circumstances are tough, when I don’t understand, I rest on the knowledge that God is in control. He is the Sovereign Lord of the Universe, the Sovereign Lord of my life. He works all things according to the counsel of His will. And He has already declared the reason for my circumstances, my feelings, my struggles. He has declared that I, who trust in Him, will be to the praise of His glory.

“In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.”
~Ephesians 1:11-14 (ESV)

And so I will praise and thank the Sovereign Lord of All, the God who is worthy of all praise and glory. He is working through my difficulties to conform me to His image, that I may be to the praise of His glory.

Amen, do this in me.