I am thankful for (Day 1) November 26, 2008

This will be a few days process of thinking through and discussing all the MANY blessings and things in my life I have to be thankful for.

Day 1…

I am thankful for….

Looking back on past couple of year of my life especially (and we always have a better view from the tale end of a trial), I can see the hand of Almighty God more present than ever in my life. So here I am.. Under NORMAL circumstances I should have a broken marriage, a broken home and a broken heart. But praise God, our God is not the God of NORMAL!!!

I am thankful that I am not “NORMAL.” I am thankful that I have been Chosen by God. Think about that. Think about the honor that thought carries. I could be just some average person living some average life but God chose me for Himself! Of all the people he could have chosen to use to bring him glory, he chose ME? That is such a humbling statement to me. I love to listen to Paul Washer sermons. One of the things I have heard Paul say is “God saved me BY himself, FOR himself, and FROM himself.” Wow..how powerful is that? The idea that he chose to save me and I had really no part in it at all. Nothing I could have done would have made me choose him. All other things that I can thank him for are microscopic in comparison.

I believe that when we view every single aspect of our lives in light of that fact, we see things differently. Things that once seemed like work are now an HONOR. Serving one another, loving one another, pursuing sanctification, all of this is now a freedom and an honor. In ourselves we get tired and burned out. We get our feelings hurt and we get heartache. But when we focus our brains on the idea that none of this is because of me, the picture becomes different. You begin to see others through the eyes of Christ and all you seek is glorifying him.

During our study of Tozers, Attributes of God, a friend and I spent a great deal discussing the following verse. It also came up in the sermon on Sunday. My friend gave a great description of that verse..

3For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. (Colossians 3:3)

She said, “Picture yourself unworthy of standing before God and so Christ stands in front of you and you hide behind him. When God looks at you, he sees Christ.” Wow, Wow, Wow!

I am thankful that he chose me. I am thankful that he chose to save me, redeem me and purify me. I am thankful that when he looks upon me, he sees his son. I am a sinner. I deserve nothing from God. I am thankful that he has shown me that my salvation is not about me. That life is not about me. I am thankful that he is God and that I am not normal. I am called of God to fulfill his calling in me to be a wife and a mother. How humbling to be called a child of God. Thanks be to God alone who SAVED A WRETCH LIKE ME!