“Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within
me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.”
Psalm 42:5-6a
I try to
read this when I go through periods of depression. When I was in college, I
read Norman Vincent Peale’s book, The Power of Positive Thinking One thing I
learned from it was that I needed to find at least one good thing that happened
each day. Later in life, I called them praises. Each time I did this exercise,
if I found one, I found more.
After reading Ann Voskamp’s book,
1,000 Gifts, I call then God’s gifts. Each day, I try to find three gifts from
God, some days I find as many as six. Each gift I recognize from God causes me
to pause and thank Him for who He is and what He has done for me or for a
friend.
In our home, each room has light
colored walls. I didn’t realize it when we chose to paint that the light colors
help me especially on the dark overcast days of late fall and winter. God led
me to do this several years ago. You see, I have learned and now believe God
guides us even when we don’t realize it.
The
Apostle Paul tells us to praise God in
all circumstances.(give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. I Thessalonians 5:18,NIV)
;Yes, the preposition is important. We might not like the
circumstance that presents itself to us; the way out may be arduous but when we
praise and place our hope in Him, we find the resolution becomes easier than we
thought.
Good post Cecelia, we are constantly learning... also to find different ways to get above our circumstances. I am in Israel right now, and I am learning that we have an easy life in Holland (not being threatened by war all the time) and we should be very, very thankful for that!
ReplyDeleteMaria: Let's be thankful for what God has given us. This Sunday is International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church. I have helped our pastoral assistant set up a display for the observance. Our pastor has asked me to say a few words about the day and the display.
DeleteHi Cecelia! I also think that gratitude is a healer. When I think of something right in a day that was all wrong, I do feel better. God's grace is in our thanksgiving. I know exactly what you mean!
ReplyDeleteBlessings,
Ceil
Hi Ceil, I'm sorry to get back to you so late, I have been busy with things going on around here. Each day last week had something special going on and this week started the same way. I like your thoughts.
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