Prayer of Thanks in Difficulty

Thank you that You have me in the place You want me just now…that even if I got here through wrong choices or indifference or even rebellion, yet You knew my mistakes and sins before I ever existed, and You worked them into Your plan to draw me to Yourself, to mold and bless me, and to bless others through me. 

Thank You that, even if I’m here through the ill-will or poor judgment of other people, all is well; for in Your sovereign wisdom You are at work to bring about good results from all those past decisions, those past events beyond my control – good results both for me and for others.

Thank You again that You meant for good the terrible things that happened to Joseph, who was sold into slavery, exiled to a distant country, and later sent to prison on false accusations…and that through all this You had him in the right place at the right time, for highly important reasons. I’m glad, Lord, that You are the same today – well able to work things out for us, to turn evil into good. 

I stand amazed at the complexity and mystery of Your wisdom.  How safe it is for me to trust Your reasons for acting (or not acting) and Your methods of working!

Thank You that I can safely commit my location and situation to You. I can be willing for You to shift me anywhere on life’s checkerboard, or bury me anywhere in life’s garden, gladly yielding myself for You…anywhere and anyway You choose.

Thank You that I can trust You with my future places – ready to go, ready to stay.

So I rest in the fact that You have me in this place for this day, and I praise You that You will faithfully guide me throughout life to just where You want me to be, as I seek to do Your will. 

And most important of all is my place in You. How delighted I am to have you as my dwelling place where I can settle down, feel secure and be content anywhere on earth…You are my blessed home, “where I can enter and be at rest even when all around and above is a sea of trouble.” (Andrew Murray). How my soul delights to hide in the secret of Your presence…to take refuge in the shadow of Your wings, to eat at Your table, to drink my fill of the river of Your delights.    

---from Ruth Meyers’s 31 Days of Praise (pp.78-80).