My Thankfulness Runs Deeply

As I sit in my cluttered office, my mind is beginning to release some of its own clutter…

My heart is always full this time of year with thoughts of family and friends. Much of my past seems to rear its ugly head this time of year too, and I generally struggle with a sort of seasonal depression. (I am putting my Vitamin D lamp on as I type.)

This year, a lot of healing has taken place in my life in the form of being able to help others through hard times. It always amazes me what the Lord can do in my own heart when I fight the good fight along with my sisters and brothers in Christ. It heals me. It reminds me what blessings I have been given and how far in my journey I have come, while humbly recognizing how far I still have left to be like Him. There are times when I can laugh alongside the hurting and there are times of crying alongside of them, as well. Either way, the Lord is to get all the glory of bringing the hurting through the valley into His marvelous light.

He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. Psalm 147:3

I was reading just this morning in Ezra where the Jews were leaving Babylon that they had been exiled to for 70 years by the destruction of the temple and all of the havoc that Nebuchadnezzar wreaked on the land. Ezra tells the story of the Israelite’s journey back to Jerusalem to restore the temple that Solomon had built originally. It tells of the difficulty, the dangers, and the expensive nature of the journey. The book of Ezra is full of celebration, opposition, as well as dedication to finishing the assignment the Lord had placed on the people’s heart.

The road to restoration was difficult for the Israelite’s, as it is for us who have needed healing in some hard areas of life. His desire for you though is complete restoration. The process will be a mix of emotions. As the foundation on the temple in Jerusalem was finished there were a wide range of emotions. Some of the Levites were weeping and some were shouting for joy. Ezra 3: 12-13 says that

“No one could distinguish the sound of the shouts of joy from the sound of weeping, because the people made so much noise. And the sound was heard far away.”

My Life Application Bible states that some may have been so full of joy because they finished the foundation and saw the new beginning that they were celebrating with shouts. But there were some that were sobered by remembering their sins and of how the temple had gotten that way that it made them weep. They also remembered how glorious it had been before when Solomon had built it and they were saddened that it did not have all of the bells and whistles as before.

As we go through the holidays and face the hurts in our own lives, and in the lives of others, we will probably run the gamut of emotions. It’s ok though. There are times of laughter and new beginnings and there are times of deep sorrow where we remember our sins and remember how good we used to have it. But either way, I pray that your thankfulness will run deep because we serve a Mighty God and He has given us so much. He is The Only True God. The Only One who can offer true restoration and healing. Sure, there will be opposition and cost involved, but it is worth every ounce of self we lose to gain the Only One who can truly be our Jehovah Rapha (Our Healer).

May God bless your deeply and richly as you seek to follow Him each and every day of your life.