A Spectacle Of Glory #137

Read: Psalm 100:4, LB

When I first became paralyzed, I thought it was hypocritical to express thanks to God when I didn’t feel thankful. And it would have been hypocritical had I thanked God only to impress others. But I knew I had to move forward; I had to start somewhere. That’s when I began loosening my tongue and mouthing words of thanks, hoping that somehow God would actually fill my heart with true gratitude. I wasn’t hiding the hardness of an ungrateful spirit; I was desperately hoping for the in-breaking of the Holy Spirit!

After several months, a miracle occurred. I began to feel the emotion of thankfulness. I learned that doing the right thing was a way of placing myself under the shower of God’s mercy. Thanksgiving with the mouth stirs up thankfulness in the heart. As today’s Scripture reads, “Go through his open gates with great thanksgiving; enter his courts with praise. Give thanks to him and bless his name.”

I praise You, Lord Jesus, for Your goodness and kindness to me through the years. You once said that if Your followers fail to praise You, the rocks themselves will cry out.^a My heart was like a rock once, but You changed me. Continue to fill my heart with gratitude and joy.