The Key is Gratitude

When we are filled with doubt

Where is God

Who is this God

Who has not answered our prayers

Who has not even heard our cry

Who has not seen our desperation

Who appears to have fallen asleep on us

Fallen into a deep long sleep

For He has not answered our cry

In our deepest

Pitch black

Bottomless

Pit

He has left us in the pit

In our misery

Without lifting a finger

His presence wasn’t even there with us

We were

Left all alone

Abandoned

Rejected

Forgotten

Tossed out

Nonexistent

We have lost all hope

And He still did not show up

He did not help us

Nor save us

Nor was He even present with us

As He had promised He would

For our situation has not changed

Or has gotten even worse

Is He a deaf and dumb god

Have we put our hope in a non-living god

A non-existent god

Was He a figment of our imagination

An emotional crutch

Our “Coping Mechanism”

Darkness

Silence

Desolation

Until…

We recall

How He had been there for us in the past

We recall

What He has done for us in the past

How He has

Granted us salvation which we did not earn nor deserve

Changed us from the inside out

Saved us from our ourselves

Visited us in the pit we have dug for ourselves

Visited us when we were destitute

Even though they were in our distant past

We can’t help but recall

He once was there for us

He did show up

He did save us

He did change us

He actually did bless us

Albeit in distant past

He nonetheless

Was Real

Is Real

As we reach into the recesses of our minds

We can recall

We do recall

What He has done for us

If it hadn’t been His mercy

Or His love

We would have

Lost all hope

Given up

Walked away from Him

But for the grace and mercy of God

But by the grace and mercy of God

We were pressed on every side but not crushed

Perplexed but not in despair

Persecuted but not abandoned

Struck down but not destroyed

And now

As we recall

What He has done for us in our past

As we start to recount

His blessings

How He has met our needs

Physically

Bodily

Emotionally

Mentally

Financially

Relationally

Spiritually

How He has blessed us with things we have

Not earned

Nor deserved

As we recall

As we recount

What He has done for us

All that we do have in our lives

We start to recount in the present

And start to list each of

His provisions

His protections

His mercies

His blessings

His abundant goodness

As we fill our

Hearts with gratitude

The fog or our mind dissipates

Our misery lifts

Our bottomless pit is filled

Our despair dissipates

Our hope arises

Our soul swells up

Our spirit soars

Our mouths now filled with laughter

G          R          A          T          I           T          U          D          E

Recounting God’s blessings in the past

The provisions in the present which we have taken for granted

Enables us to be reassured of

His goodness

His reality

His existence