Thankful Ponderings

"And the angel of God, which went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them; and the pillar of the cloud went from before their face, and stood behind them. And it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel; and it was a cloud and darkness to them, but it gave light by night to these so that the one came not near the other all night. And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided."                                   ~Exodus 14:19-21~

I read this early this morning and thought how God still protects us as with a cloud. Our enemies aren't always visible like the Egyptians were to the Israelites but God never changes. His angel still stands between us and harms way. God still causes miracles to happen by figuratively causing the sea to part, providing dry land for us to cross over the river to safety. 

I love seeing some detail in the bible like I had not ever read it before. I had never noticed that 'the LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all night, and made the sea dry land' !! Can you imagine? The wind was blowing and blowing all night!! Maybe it was a storm?? 

Just thinking on how our 'enemies' can seem to be those around us (when they are not) set me to pondering. If we are to pray without ceasing, then when such things occur, we can pray and pray, then watch God turn the situation around for the good. Tonight, my pastor talked about thanking God in the midst of a 'bad' situation. What follows are some thoughts he shared.

Are you thankful? I try to be thankful but it is truly something I need to work on especially when things are not going well. It is in those times that I get engulfed in the problem instead of turning my thoughts to thankfulness. 

When you (or I) pray for your husband and children, are you thankful? 

When your hair is bristled the wrong way, are you thankful?

When you get an unexpected bill, are you thankful?

It helps if we pray for others with thanksgiving as that will quickly change our perspective from our selfish problems to love and tenderness as the Lord fills us with His love. According to my pastor, this is a great passage to use in praying for others. It is always a good reminder to pray constructively as this is much more powerful than just praying about the problems we have. God can change my heart through prayer for others especially when my heart starts to feel thankful. Thankfulness is like an energy drink filling you up with all sorts of strength and positive thoughts instead of negative ones that tear you down as well as the one you love.

"Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints. Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers. That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him. The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to usward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power." (Ephesians 1:15-19)

I am thankful for you ladies who read my simple blog. It is nice to be strengthened and encouraged through the thoughts shared. I have been encouraged to press on when sometimes my flesh would say, give up!! I often hear in my thoughts the verse (but this is my paraphrase) 'be not weary in well doing" as I go about my day. Serve your families and I will serve my to the best of my ability. Remind me to rest when I am weary and exhausted...and lets all sit at the feet of Jesus and be renewed by His unwavering gentleness and love and learn better how to more fully allow Him to dwell in us.

~Judith~