Today I am grateful to be home. I spend much of my life at home. God has blessed us with a cozy little home in upstate New York. We are so grateful for all His provision this year.
This song is to the tune of “We Gather Together.” The words are different but they speak to gratefulness all the same. They speak of MY gratefulness to an amazing God.
We praise You, O God, our Redeemer, Creator;
In grateful devotion our tribute we bring;
We lay it before You; we kneel and adore You;
We bless Your holy name: glad praises we sing.
Do we bring tributes to our God daily? A tribute is a gift we bring. Our grateful devotion can be a gift to our God. God gave us a gift when He gave us eternal life. “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.” Ephesians 2:8
We worship You, God of our fathers and mothers;
Through life’s storm and tempest our guide You have been;
When perils o’ertake us, You never forsake us,
And with Your help, O Lord, our battles we win.
Many people are sad right now after the elections. I do not talk politics here but I will say just one thing. Politics are of this world. God is much greater than politics. We can exercise our civic right to vote but we can also rest in the hands of an Almighty God knowing the future is already prepared for us! This past year has seen so many changes in our lives. We have been through some storms as a family but God never forsook us. He was there all the time. There is a cute children’s church song that states says it well. “With Christ in the vessel we can smile at the storm.” God is fighting those battles for us and His promise never fails. “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” Hebrews 13:5
With voices united our praises we offer,
Our songs of thanksgiving to You we now raise;
Your strong arm will guide us, our God is beside us,
To You, our great Redeemer, forever be praise!
So what can we do when we see the turmoil in the world? Instead of wringing our hands or spending countless hours ranting on what we see, let’s do what this song is suggesting. Let’s off our voices of praise to our God and sing with thanksgiving. God’s strong arm WILL guide us. That’s all we need. When we give things to God and focus on Him, our focus becomes less of this world and more on the eternal joy awaiting us. “It is God that girdeth me with strength, and maketh my way perfect.” Psalm 18:32
Gratefulness is never depleted in our lives if our focus is on Him and not this world. We will still have struggles and trials day after day but every little trial will pale in comparison to the great God we serve!