I remember while growing up and I had a hard time with a problem, some well-meaning person—-pastor, parent, teacher, or friend would say,” Don’t forget to count your blessings.” Usually this annoyed me, but it did help if I stopped to praise God for the things that He was doing for me.
In this present time of staying at home, except for a trip to Publix once a week in the last two months, this seems like a good time to count blessings. I want to meditate on the benefits that God provides by using my favorite Psalm 103: 1-5. (I have some of the words underlined in my Bible.)
Praise the Lord, O my soul;
all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
Praise the Lord, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits –
who forgives all your sins
and heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life from the pit
and crowns you with love and compassion,
who satisfies your desires with good things
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
I try to ponder my day’s activities and bring my concerns to God. I often neglect to do an act of kindness, and sometimes I say or do something hurtful (I sin). When I confess my sins He forgives them all.
I pray for healing for myself and others, knowing that all things are possible with God. I thank him for the healings received and for the healings still to come.
I praise Him for redeeming my life from the pit. I consider John 3:16. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Max Lucado wrote an “Inspiration thought” on Psalm 103:4. “He…loads me with love and mercy.”
“Picture a giant dump truck full of love. There you are behind it. God lifts the bed until the love starts to slide. Slowly at first, then down, down, down until you are hidden, buried, covered in his love.
’Hey, where are you?’ someone asks.
’In here, covered in love.’”
Praise the Lord, O my soul. Amen