It was a pleasant memory to recall that, periodically at my work, when someone would ask me how I was doing, I would answer, “It’s a great day to be alive!” And after letting that sentiment sink in, I would add, “Of course, that’s every day, but you know what I mean.” Now that I know that God is not done with me yet – even though a month ago I went through a particularly scary stint in the hospital – I wonder if I should say, “It’s a super great day to be alive.” What did I say when I gave my teaser for this content earlier? Something like I’ve been upgraded from grateful to grateful 2.0.
Of course, I’ve started out today in a silly and giddy
tone. But the fact of the matter is, I
find myself so grateful to God for the gracious opportunity to live this day. Psalm 118:24 says, “This the day the Lord has
made, we will rejoice and be glad in it.”
Longtime readers of this blog will know that every April, my family and
I celebrate how God healed me from a vicious disease I had as an infant. For years and years, my parents used to sing
a song that Dad wrote expressing thankfulness to God for this momentous
happening; one line states that God gave me “a future, to walk, talk and run.”
In the same way, I will forget the feeling of relief and
gratitude when I realized that, just as God had done for me in the past, once
again He had spared my life. Or, to use
my dad’s line again, once again He gave me “a future, to walk, talk and run.” The Bible states that every day we wake up is
a gift from the hand of God. Psalm 3:5
says, “I lay down and slept; I awoke, for the Lord sustained me.
Psalm 3:5 is a powerful verse, and it’s even more powerful
when we see the verse in its context. Psalm
3 is a Psalm from King David, when he was going through the horrible season of
running from his own son, Absalom, who sought the take over the throne. Verse 1 of Psalm 3 reads, “Lord, how they
have increased who trouble me!” In
context, this is an intense time of suffering for the king. But David had hope in the Lord. And so do I.
I can imagine that some may read my words and think that
I’m the male version of Pollyanna, who only sees the good, and is absolutely
blind to the bad. Not so! Believe me, I could detail the physical and
emotional suffering I’m enduring, even now as I write this. I still haven’t returned to my normal routine,
and every day presents stresses and frustrations. But, even in the midst of this trouble, I
have hope; I have a heart of worship.
We humans think we have such control over our lives, but
take it for me, that’s nothing more than an illusion. I’m pleased that God chose to spare my life,
but there will come a day – perhaps at some point decades in the future, or
maybe much sooner – that I will die.
However, when this happens, I will be “present with the Lord” in Heaven,
as it says in 2 Corinthians 5. Years
ago, someone at a church quoted these wonderful words in Romans 14; they came
to my mind again, as I was putting all this together: “For none of us lives to
himself, and no one dies to himself. For
if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the
Lord’s” (verses 7-8). It’s all in His
sovereign hands.
Brandon Lake’s melodious work entitled “Gratitude” now has an added layer of
relevance to me. “All my words fall
short,” he begins. “I’ve got nothing
new. How could I express all my gratitude? I could sing these songs, as I often do, but
every song must end, and You never do.
So I throw up my hands, and praise You again and again…I know it’s not
much, but I’ve nothing else fit for a King, except for a heart singing
hallelujah. Hallelujah!”
God bless,
Kevin
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