Psalm 116:17 says: I will offer to you the sacrifice of thanksgiving and call on the name of the Lord. It was many years ago that I first read this verse and was struck by this concept of a sacrifice of thanksgiving. I thought to myself: “Why would giving thanksgiving to the Lord be a sacrifice?” Of course, you can imagine that was when I was young, and while my life was not all bells and whistles, I had not lived a lot of life to really know experientially what this really meant. Then, I lived more of life! It became more clear to me. As some of you know, my husband, Frank had testicular cancer when I was pregnant with our second child, Josh. Frank underwent three surgeries to remove the cancer. It was not until ten years later that we knew that he was “out of the woods”. I began to understand what a sacrifice it was to give thanks to the Lord when I wasn’t sure if I would be raising my two children by myself or not. There were many days that I would give thanks to the Lord as an act of obedience, not out of being full of emotions of thanksgiving. I would pray something like: “Lord, I am thanking you as an act of obedience. Based on Philippians 4:6-7, please fill my heart with peace and guard my heart in Christ Jesus.
After our second child was born, we had a string of baby losses. We had two miscarriages and one still born baby named Jake before we had our third child, Rachel, born on the National Day of Prayer. Following that, we had a miscarriage, another daughter, Rebekah, followed by two more miscarriages. Altogether, I have been pregnant 11 times and had four live births. (We adopted a child, Vitalik, when he was 14 from Ukraine. So, the Lord has blessed us with five children). As you can imagine, there were many days that I did not “feel like” praising the Lord. I began to understand at an even deeper level what a sacrifice it can be to give thanks to the Lord. But, as I did give thanks to the Lord in all circumstances, 1Thessalonians 5:18, the Lord met me. I sensed a lightness in my heart. I could feel his presence with me and felt a little less alone. He gave me peace and comfort.
What about you? Are you finding it difficult to praise and thank the Lord right now? I’m not suggesting that you praise him or thank him for the circumstances of what you are going through, but I am suggesting that you praise and thank him for who He is; things like his steadfast love, faithfulness, mercy and grace. Also, thank Him for what He will do in and through you as you walk with him through your present circumstances, James 1:5.
I encourage you to offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving and praise to the Lord no matter what your circumstances are today. Don’t wait for your circumstances to change before you express thanksgiving to the Lord. As you do this, take note of how the Lord meets you in your heart. Let me know how it goes!
