Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Colossians 3: 16-17
I woke up this morning and took my golden retriever, Bones, for a nice long walk on the highway beside the gulf. The waves were fierce, red flags flying, clouds lying low.
Bones walked happily, and I let him pull me into a quick trot. The mile is a great way to start my day, and I felt the joy of the Lord with the wind in my hair, and the insistent rhythm of the waves breaking fiercely against the white sand.
With all that beauty, and the mile trot, you would think I would come back to my house with a happy heart. But I didn’t. My heart felt heavy, anxious, stressed. I couldn’t put my finger on why.
Was I ill? Did I eat or drink something the night before that might have made me feel bad?
I thought of all the bad things that had happened to me in the past few days.
This in itself was strange. Normally, the morning is my happy time. I sink about four in the afternoon along with babies and Alzheimer’s patients. But the morning is usually good.
On this morning, I wasn’t sure how I was going to be able to come up with a devotion and craft my current novel past page one hundred.
There was a pall over and around everything. I hated this feeling, but wasn’t sure what to do about it.
I drank a couple of glasses of water and ate a cup of yoghurt, my standard cure-all for whatever ails you.
It didn’t really help.
I read my daily devotion from the Upper Room, and the scripture hit me exactly where I needed it.
Isaiah 40:26-31 reminded me that God was right here with me ready to help me out, and Colossians 2:15-17 reminded me of what I needed to do in order to get the peace that passes understanding and the joy that is God.
Give thanks.
So, I opened a blank page in Word to make a list of all the God moments I had yesterday, the treasures that might carry me through the darkness.
I worried about the difficulty of thinking of things I was thankful for given the mood I was in.
But once I got started, it was like the gulf waves crashing against the shore, one following another then another.
-the sweetness of our friends Janet and Nell who opened their home to us last night.
-sitting together on the 17th floor of their magnificent condominium and watching the sun set over the blue-green gulf.
“We love it here,” Janet said, “and we just want to share it with you,”
Now I’ve seen plenty of sunsets on the gulf before, but the sweet spirit of Janet, her eager desire for us to find in that sunset the same joy that she found was a precious gift
-watching two of my children sit on a couch and chat like adults, obviously enjoying each other’s company
-my sweet sister-in-law making sure my teenagers were taken care of and having a good time.
-my daughter’s gracious kindness in appreciating all the effort Janet put forth in sharing the condo’s many amenities with us
-my husband’s loving care in preparing appetizers, and displaying them on a tray fit for a five-star restaurant
-my son’s caretaking—insisting on driving us old folks home.
My mood lifted with every sentence I typed.
Why is it that I can slip into a dark morass even though I know giving thanks can get me out of it? It’s such a simple thing. Why is it so hard to do?
Perhaps because it’s a discipline, and I’m not a very disciplined person. But, if I could just follow a daily regimen of thanksgiving, I could enjoy a daily peace that passes understanding.
Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.
Colossians 3:15