Today's Devotional Thought
November 25, 2009 by Wendy Foreman
Thank You Heavenly Father
What captivity are you in today? Psalm 107 speaks about the Jews and their return from captivity in Babylon. And, verse 8 speaks specifically of their thankfulness for God’s mercy and his providence. As I have thought about this verse and applied it to our life today, I began to think about all the dark places some of us may have come out of. The distress we may be in or have been freed from. The previous chapter speaks of the Jews being in captivity. It speaks of their sinful ways and of their rebellion. If we know anything about the Israelites, it is that they witnessed miracle after miracle but seemed to forget within hours of God’s mighty power. When we read about them we see that they even worshipped other idols and completely turned from the true God. When we reach Chapter 107 of Psalms, we see that they were delivered from their captivity and they are rejoicing for all the blessings of being delivered. They were letting it be known that the Lord pulled them out by His hand from all the distress they were in.
What captivity are you in today? The Israelites reached a point in their journey where they knew who to call on and who would deliver them. The writer of the Psalms takes the whole chapter to express thanksgiving to the Lord for the deliverance of the Jews, of them being pulled out of the distress they were in. Friends, we should all know who our deliverer is. He is just waiting for us to call on Him to pull us out. When He does, like he did the Israelites, oh my, what a time of thanksgiving and rejoicing that we should have. God is good and he is forgiving and loving and whatever we have done, or if we have strayed away and come back, he is overjoyed and thankful that we have decided to be his children.
I am thankful today for a loving Heavenly Father that waits patiently for me to turn to Him for that deliverance that I so need. I don’t know what many of you are going through this Thanksgiving. In the midst of your journey, though, isn’t there something that you are thankful for? Hasn’t the Lord blessed you somehow this year? Yes, we all have our times of feeling like we are in captivity in our lives and I don’t doubt for one minute that it is real for you but I’ve been there too and in my darkest times I could always find something to be thankful for. Find that something today that has brought you much joy this year and be thankful for it. And know that it was the Lord who delivered you.
December