A Magnolia's Heart Beats

Irene, over at Thankful Thursday, hosts this wonderful meme. It's such a great time to honor God with thankfulness for what He has given us.

You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; you have loosed my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness, that my glory may sing your praise and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever! ~ Psalm 30:11-12 (ESV -
emphasis Irene's)

Give me calm and steady. I don't like the balance of my life to be upset. My heart is disturbed when loved ones suffer or tribulations come my way. I don't like my boat to be rocked.

It's easy to be thankful when life is going great, there is no sickness in the body, loved ones are doing well and you have a roof over your head and food in your mouth. What's hard is praising God in the hard times. It can be done, though.

Habakkuk 3:17-18 - Though the fig tree does not bud and there
are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and
the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the
pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the
LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior.

Didja know that the fig tree symbolizes Israel throughout Scripture? I didn't know that until a few weeks ago. They faced tremendous hardship, whether this was a vision of what the land was to be like during the invasion or if this was literal (Habakkuk was a prophet, and I sometimes have to go back and figure out if it was a vision or real when I read the prophets books of the Bible.)

Think about it. This is lower than low. Yet Habakkuk was willing to praise God. He had a right view of God.

We don't have to understand why bad things happen, and we certainly do not have to enjoy them, but we do need to understand that God loves us and we are to praise Him regardless. He is worthy of our praise and thanksgiving. When we look at how much God loves us (He has redeemed us through His Son, grace personified!!!) and really think about things in light of eternity, the bad things get put into perspective, don't they?

While things in our lives change, God is unchanging. He is still holy and He is still God.

Psalm 46:1-2 - "God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea."

He is our Rock. We can run into His arms and be safe.

I'm going to stop here. I could go on and on all day long about things I am thankful for, but knowing Jesus is the Anchor of my sometimes rocky boat helps me praise Him in hard times....

Disclaimer: Medication for pulled muscles in my back may disorganize my thoughts and not make them flow as coherently as they should. I sure wish I could use that excuse when I'm not "muscle relaxed".