Sometimes, it is a sacrifice to be thankful.
There have been many terribly difficult circumstances in my life that I did not FEEL thankful. There were times that God brought such heartbreak in my life that it even hurt to breathe.
I read this morning Psalms 50. I was struck by this phrase, “sacrifice of thanksgiving.”
In verse 8, God did not rebuke His people for offering sacrifices. He had commanded them to do that in the Law. Yet, in this passage, God says He is not interested in receiving more animal offerings. He does not need the bulls and goats. Everything already belongs to Him. He owns the cattle, the birds, and the field animals. He owns the world.
God describes what He wants more than sacrifice: a thankful heart, an obedient heart, and a heart that trusts in Him.
“Offer unto God thanksgiving; And pay thy vows unto the most High: And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.”
Psalm 50:14-15
“Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me: And to him that ordereth his conversation aright will I shew the salvation of God.”
Psalm 50:23
Then God tells us in to 1 Thessalonians 5:18 to “In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”
I know for me sometimes that “giving thanks in all circumstances” is a great sacrifice. Choosing to give thanks does not change my circumstances or situation, but it puts me in a position of worship and surrender.
Throughout the months of November and December of 2020, I had excruciating pain that would not stop. Day after day, pelvic pain gripped me. On top of that, the IV antibiotics given to me in November to help with the pelvic pain gave me an infection in my colon that ravaged my body. The infection landed me in the ER four times in the month of December.
I could not care for my family, cook, clean, homeschool, or help my husband in our church. I was pretty much helpless. Many days I felt I could not continue on with this pain day after day.
In my darkest of days, I would fall on my knees several times a day crying, begging God to relieve my pain and suffering and heal me. Multiple times a day, I would go to my room and kneel by my little black chair and sob out to God to please heal me—take away this pain!
I received an email from Kim Bumgardner. She sent me a package with instructions for a different way to pray. In that package was a small laminated card with this prayer:
“Thank you Father, for what is happening now—for I know God brought me here,
He will sustain me here;
He will teach me here;
He will be bring me out...in His time...in His way”
As I began to pray this prayer of trust, day after day, night after night, God changed my heart. I would still sob out to God my sorrows, but it taught me what complete desperate, dependence and surrender looked like. It truly became a sacrifice of thanksgiving.
God knows my pain.
God brought me here to this sorrow.
He will sustain me as I endure.
He will teach me as I surrender to Him.
In His time, in His will, in His way, He will heal—in this earthy life or in heaven.
Some days it does seem impossible to give thanks. Many times, I offered my sacrifice of praise through tears.
Hebrews 13:15 tells us that through Jesus we can offer up a continual sacrifice of praise to God.
In Psalm 116 we see again the sacrifice of praise. The psalmist says, “I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the LORD” (v. 17).
I think Psalm 51:17 is my favorite. “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.”
David tells us that God does not despise a broken and and a contrite heart. I can bring my broken heart to Jesus and offer it up as a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving to Him.
What is happening in your life today? It is good? Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving. Is it bad? Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving.
Today, let us make thankfulness our sacrifice. Let us decide today to take our broken heart and give it as a sacrifice back to God. Let us offer to God an offering of thanksgiving.
Love this so very much! Welcome back. 😘 Thankful for friends like Kim for your heart to grow in difficulty and for God who loves us all so individually.