Psalm 100
1 Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.
2 Worship the Lord with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs.
3 Know that the Lord is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.
5 For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.
As I think of the first thanksgiving, I can envision the pilgrims who had survived that first winter, reading this Psalm. They had suffered loss and could of been bitter and mad at God. But that’s not the case. They were thankful for the way God had been near to them. It had been painful but they had survived as a group. They were well on their way to establishing a place where they could worship freely.
As a family dealing with the struggles that come with parenting a child with learning differences, pain and difficulty come. Hold on to the eternal truth of scripture. Develop a sense of thanksgiving toward God. “Know that the Lord is God.” He is all knowing, all loving, all powerful and is full (totally full) of compassion. This is a picture of who are God is. I know I am a blessed individual to be surrounded by Him and his goodness even with the difficulties. It is a choice I make each and everyday to praise and thank Him for who He is.
