Because of You I Run with Joy

Sleep may slip out of reach, 
but I will rest in you. 
Age may take its toll, 
but I am renewed by you. 

I may hobble along the path, 
but you will keep me upright. 
I may wrestle with fear in the dark, 
but you are the light in my heart. 

The world’s disasters may trouble me, 
but I will find peace with you. 
Tangled emotions may strangle me,  
but you will pull me through. 

You hold my hand to guide me 
and keep me walking strong, 
you shade me from the burning heat 
and slake my thirst with love. 

If not for you I’d be a mess, 
crippled, fried and lost. 
Because of you I run with joy 
to the goal: forever with you! 

Tomorrow is wonderful: a day for focus on giving thanks! There is one item at the top of my list: God my Father, Rescuer and Counselor!

He called me when I was a child and molded me as I grew up, continuing to do it all my life. He does that with each of us who give ourselves to him, acknowledging him as our Master—even when we pull back from time to time. He kindly waits for us to return to him, holding out his welcoming arms. Think of the dad in Jesus’ parable about the son who ran off to do his own thing, but eventually came home destitute (Luke 15:11-32); his father was waiting for him and ran to embrace him. That is what my Father did for me when I was still vacillating. I decided to stay with him forever. Then he showed me the path that he had for me, not all at once, but step by step, in his timing.

Looking back, I can understand much more about how he cared for me through thick and thin.

So now, getting ready to give thanks with special emphasis tomorrow, I will take time to list key moments and sweet little gestures by which God demonstrated his protection, guidance, provision and formation of his daughter. Will you join the chorus that will be raised all across this country and beyond by other sons and daughters?

Instead of taking up your time by writing a long essay for this key holiday, I will just share a song that keeps flitting into my “inner jukebox” every day this week. Lately there have been some tough moments, and it has lifted me. When I looked up the story behind it I was wowed. May it inspire you too!

“In 1978, a young seminary graduate named Henry Smith was struggling to find work and coming to terms with a degenerative eye condition that would eventually leave him legally blind. Despite those hardships, Henry found hope in 2 Corinthians 8:9 and penned “Give Thanks,” one of the most beloved songs of our time.”[1]

Give thanks with a grateful heart,
Give thanks to the Holy one,
Give thanks because He’s given,
Jesus Christ His Son.

And now,
Let the weak say I am strong.
Let the poor say I am rich.
Because of what,
The Lord has done for us.
Give thanks.[2]

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[1] https://www.praisecharts.com/blog/the-story-behind-the-song-give-thanks/

[2] https://st-takla.org/Lyrics-Spiritual-Songs/English-Coptic-Hymns-Texts/3-Christian-n-Gospel-Lyrics-E-F-G/Give-Thanks.html