I’m at a friend’s house after returning from a doctor’s
appointment with her. She had a major surgery a few weeks back and
complications set in. According to information given her by the doctor
earlier, we anticipated what might be a very difficult appointment. Perhaps
even a return to the operating room.
But it didn’t happen.
Her status was better than expected.
I’m sitting on her screened porch as the sun sets and glints off a maple. So
thankful. So very, very thankful for God’s grace in the things that never
happened.
Perhaps this is a different take on Thanksgiving this year―being
thankful not only for what we have but for what we don’t have, all that God has
kept from us. Like the sickness we never had, the accident that never happened,
the financial problem that failed to develop, the car
didn't quit, or the friend that never left. The list goes on.
The sunbeams hit my hand as I type and leaves shower down around the
porch. Up the street, a father plays basketball with his sun, their laughter
scattering in the air. In the beauty of this afternoon, I’m taking time to
remember God’s gracious goodness demonstrated in so many ways.
The Psalmist might have been experiencing something similar when he
wrote Psalm 145:6-9. Here taken from The Message, “Your marvelous doings are
headline news; I could write a book full of the details of your greatness . . .
God is all mercy and grace―not quick to anger, is rich in love. God is good to one
and all; everything he does is suffused with grace.”
As we enter this season of thanksgiving, friends, I pray we are more
aware than ever of the all the ways God has “suffused” our lives with grace,
especially for the things that never happened.
I'm so excited to share the cover of my new book releasing in January,
A Plan for Everything!
