Thanksgiving (Part 2): What do I have to be thankful for?

““Will the Lord reject forever? Will he never show his favor again? Has his unfailing love vanished forever? Has his promise failed for all time? Has God forgotten to be merciful? Has he in anger withheld his compassion?”              Selah” (Psalm 77:7–9, NIV)
Have you ever felt this way? I imagine that all of us have had times where we felt the weight of all our circumstances and difficulties and wondered if God has left us forever. The writer of this psalm sure did. In moments such as these, we can easily surmise that we have nothing to be grateful for. “After all”, we say, “the wheels are coming off and everything is going wrong. What in the world could I possibly give thanks for?”
But check out the next verses:
“Then I thought, “To this I will appeal: the years of the right hand of the Most High.” I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago. I will meditate on all your works and consider all your mighty deeds. Your ways, O God, are holy. What god is so great as our God? You are the God who performs miracles; you display your power among the peoples.” (Psalm 77:10–14, NIV84)
The writer stops for a minute and dips back into the archives to recall God’s glorious acts. When you doubt God’s goodness in the present, recount God’s love in the past. When you do, you are given fresh vision to see the silver linings in the storm clouds of your life. When this psalmist looked back at God’s history with him, he was given fresh perspective so that he could say that God is one who performs miracles. Not one who used to perform miracles, but does so in the present tense.
The truth of the matter is that there is always something to be grateful to God for. If we aren’t experiencing a sense of gratitude in our life, it’s not God’s fault, it’s our choice. Be on the lookout for God’s blessings in your life. When you can’t see them, reflect on his track record and it will wipe away the mist from your eyes to see what he’s doing right in front of you.