Thankful, Day Ninety-Nine

Make a joyful shout to the LORD, all you lands!

Serve the LORD with gladness;

come before His presence with singing.

Know that the LORD, He is God;

It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves;

We are His people, and the sheep of His pasture.

Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,

And into His courts with praise.

Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.

For the LORD is good;

His mercy is everlasting,

And His truth endures to all generations.

Psalm 100, NKJV

The One Hundredth Psalm. 100 Days of blogging. 127 days invested in this exercise of thanksgiving. In some ways it seems like a long time; in other ways it seems like only yesterday that I took up the challenge of giving thanks for 100 days. When I first started, I thought I would never have enough to blog about; now that it's almost over, I realize I have only just begun.

As I recall, December was a difficult month. I did do it every day, but many days I was simply going through the motions; this is what I had to do. I started this project, I was going to see it through to the end. But as the month went on, and the thanksgiving and praise began to flow from my heart, I noticed changes beginning to take place. The changes were in me. I have to confess, I was sad alot during that first month; those weeks between Thanksgiving and New Year's are usually kind of hard for me, for reasons I won't go into here. Even surrounded by family and friends, I felt alone in the world. Forsaken. Forgotten. Trying to serve God faithfully with no sign of reward. Not that I do it for reward, you know. But still, it's nice to be patted on the head once in a while and told, "You're doing a good job, son. Here's a candy bar. Or five bucks. Way to go!" It wasn't happening. Nevertheless, I spent a month thanking God.

In January, it was as if the heavens opened and light flooded down into my life. Suddenly, the world was different, better somehow. Things that I had prayed for began to happen. Broken things got fixed. Lost things got restored. After months of grief, I recovered my joy. I knew that God had been listening all along, and working, and that everything was going to be okay! And the thanks continued.

February brought repeated joys and little victories. As I continued to give thanks, I could see God's hand working all around me. His voice was clear, His words sweet to my ear. This was life on the mountaintop, with only a few insignificant clouds. From here the view is great, and I can see the light of day shining on the path ahead.

But as I've said many times before, God didn't call us to camp out on the mountaintop where everything is great. We are on a journey, bound for heaven as we continue to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ. That journey takes up one side of the mountain to the top, and down the other side of the mountain into the valley below. The climbing is hard, the descent is easier; both can be treacherous. Then there's the walk through the valley, sometimes in the shadow of death, where evil abounds and enemies beset on every hand. The climb out of the valley is strenuous, fraught with danger. It's hard work. It's when we wonder if we have the strength to make it out, but then we recall the last climb upward and we remember the goodness of God at the top. We know that God is still with us, so we press on. I guess that sums up my March. And some days thanking God took a little more effort.

Now the 100 days of thanks is almost over; and God is always good.

Thank you Lord for this journey, this process, this little trip up one side of the mountain and down the other. You have carried me from valley to valley, and I'm sure that another mountaintop awaits. Even if I can't see it yet for the canopy of leaves and the cloud cover, I know that it is there, for already I can feel the climb beneath my travel-trained feet.

Thank you Lord for the mountaintop experience, both the memory and the dream. Back there was good, but up ahead is even better. I'm looking forward to the climb, to scaling the lofty heights of whatever is next for me. The blessings you have granted are mere foretastes of what you have in store.

Thank you Lord for the valley, for it is here that I really learn to trust you. It is here that I learn to press on, to endure hardship, to walk by faith and not by sight. Up top I can see everything for miles and miles around; down here, I can see a few feet in front of me. Here is where I learn to depend upon you for guidance and for strength. Here is where I grow.