Unfailing Love

Read: Psalm 107:21-31
"Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works!" —Psalm 107:21

After visiting his wife at a residence for Alzheimer’s patients, retired pastor Browning Ware described the scene as he and close friends prepared to leave: “We shared hugs all around and held hands in prayer. So much to be grateful for! I thanked God for family, for friends, and for His radical love that liberates us even when caught within life’s clawing circumstances.”

As we pause to thank God for every way He has blessed us, it’s good to remember that our greatest treasure is His unfailing love. Too often our thankfulness ebbs and flows with our health or financial security. We equate God’s blessing with freedom from pain and sorrow. But through faith and experience we learn that God’s great love for us expressed in Jesus Christ can calm our hearts and minds even in the most taxing situations.

Four times in Psalm 107 we read, “Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men!” (vv.8,15,21,31). Even when life seems overwhelming, we can cry out to the Lord and find His deliverance from our distress (vv.6,13,19,28).

It is not health or wealth, but God’s unfailing love that sets us free in every circumstance of life.

Thinking It Over
What "clawing circumstances" have invaded your life?
For what can you be thankful, even in troubling times? Read Psalm 107 for suggestions.

If we pause to think, we'll find cause to thank.

by David C. McCasland

Letting Go

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE

“I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead”

(Philippians 3:13, NKJV)

TODAY’S WORD from Joel and Victoria

We all go through disappointments, setbacks and things that we don’t understand. Maybe you prayed for a loved one, but they didn’t get well. Or maybe you worked hard for a promotion, but you didn’t get it. You stood in faith for a relationship, but it didn’t work out. One of the best things you can do is release it. Let it go. Don’t dwell on it anymore. If you go around wondering why things didn’t work out, all that’s going to do is lead to bitterness, resentment and self-pity. Before long, you’ll be blaming others, blaming yourself, or even God. You may not have understood what happened. It may not have been fair. But when you release it, it’s an act of your faith. You’re saying, “God, I trust You. I know You’re in control. And even though it didn’t work out my way, You said, ‘All things are going to work together for my good.’ So I believe You still have something good in my future.”

There is power in letting go of the past and the frustration of trying to figure everything out. When you release your questions, you are saying, “God, You are in control. I trust You.” And when you put your hope in God, that's when He can heal your heart and lead you forward into His path of blessing.

A PRAYER FOR TODAY

Father God, I come to you in the precious name of Jesus Christ. Help me to forgive and release the past. Heal my heart and restore my soul. Show me the good plan You have for my future as I keep my mind stayed on You in Jesus’ name. Amen.

— Joel & Victoria Osteen