30 Days of Gratitude: Day 1

November is often a month when many will take on the 30-day gratitude challenge. Instead of thinking of this as a challenge, I wanted to offer 30 days of gratitude and glory for God. Sometimes, with the chaos, things going on in our personal/professional lives, and all the things we hear going on in the world, we forget to be grateful for some of the smallest things. God never said he needs us to always be upbeat and cheerful. Even in our darkness, God offers a light to help us see something good. Come with me and others as we look at 30 days of being grateful.

Day 1: Life

It is too easy to take life for granted. Folks like to walk around like they are invincible, thinking that because of who they are, nothing can take them out. We need to learn how to appreciate every new day. Each day is a gift. How we choose to use that gift is up to us. It is written in Jeremiah 1:5, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” Jeremiah was one of the youngest, if not THE youngest, prophet. God wanted him to know that his calling to be a prophet went back even further than his youth. The very existence of Jeremiah was already part of God's plans before he was in the womb.

Psalm 139: 13-18 says, For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.  My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them!

Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand—when I awake, I am still with you." The fact that God knows and cares for children, specifically in the womb, means that God’s concern for life begins at conception. This is a call to remind ourselves how precious each life is, from the very moment it comes into play. God takes the time to form us in his image with unique gifts. Charles Spurgeon wrote, “The Psalmist had scarcely peered within the veil which hides the nerves, sinews, and blood-vessels from common inspection; the science of anatomy was quite unknown to him; and yet he had seen enough to arouse his admiration of the work and his reverence for the Worker.”

When David writes "translating verse 15 from Hebrew comes with eye-opening understanding: ‘uś·śê·ṯî ḇas·sê·ṯer ruq·qam·tî bə·ṯaḥ·tî·yō·wṯ ’ā·reṣ.

‘uś·śê·ṯî: I was made

ḇas·sê·ṯe: The word is Cether (Say-ter) meaning cover or secretly

ruq·qam·tî: The word is raqam (rah-KAM) meaning embroiderer.

bə·ṯaḥ·tî·yō·wṯ: The word is tachtiy (takh-TEE) meaning lowermost (feminine also means womb)

’ā·reṣ: The word is erets (eh-rets) meaning the earth.

I was made in secret, embroidered together, in the lowermost parts of the earth. God is the Great Embroiderer! He embroiders us. When we form ourselves in the womb, nothing is seen. In fact, unless a female is actively monitoring herself, it takes 4-6 weeks before common pregnancy symptoms start for a female to know she is expecting! Everything is done in the dark for us, yet with the light of creativity and hope from God.

We were made in the image of God, with a purpose and plan for us. The free will he created us with allows us to choose the paths we take in this world. Sometimes, we stray away from the path or ignore his path completely. It is never too late to change course. It is never too late to look to God and ask for directions. It is never too late to treat your existence better. In Genesis 1:27 we are told we are made in the image of God. David Guzik wrote, "We are plainly told God created man fully formed, and created him in one day, not gradually over millions of years of progressive evolution. The idea that a slow, progressive evolution could produce a complex mechanism like the human body just doesn’t hold up." Instead of fighting against God or arguing for what we want to do with our lives, instead of following God's plan, let us take a step back and reflect on everything we have done in life to this point. Can anyone truly say they have always made decisions that have turned out well or taken roads that have always ended in success? We will live a more fruitful life when we are grateful for our existence and the purpose we were created for.