I Thank God

Daily writing prompt

You get some great, amazingly fantastic news. What’s the first thing you do?

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Let me think:

• Wonder if it’s too good to be true
• Get tearful
• Thank God

I think Thank God is probably the most correct answer. I realize that we grow through our trials and challenges and that I should thank God in every circumstance, but we all need good news from time to time – at least I think that I do 😀.

The greatest news of all is the gospel itself the very word means “good news”. 50 years ago, went I entered secondary school, we got a modern version of the New Testament – “Good News for Modern Man”. It was basically the Good News Bible. I don’t see the translation much nowadays, but it had a wonderful title that emphasized the good news that Jesus died to save us.

So, God has made a way for us to spend eternity with him. We don’t need to earn it. It’s a gift, which we receive by repenting and trusting in Jesus. But down here on earth, it’s delightful to hear good news, even about little things. In Ireland, every year or two, you need to put your car through an NCT test to ensure that it’s roadworthy. It’s no big deal if it fails. You just need to get it seen to. But whenever I go through it, I dread hearing that it failed. And when I’m told that everything is OK, I thank God. It almost feels like a miracle. I get slightly tearful. The same think happened when I passed my driving test after failing the first time.

Here are a few hymns about thanksgiving. The first one, Goodness of God says nothing about heaven and eternity. It focuses on God’s goodness on earth. I wonder how many of us can sing along with some slight resentment about the difficult times. I doubt if anyone goes through life without wishing away its trials. But perhaps it’s a matter of faith – knowing that He has a purpose in our trials. And from time to time, we do get good news. They either go away or we learn to cope. And sometimes something surprisingly wonderful happens. But most of that will be in the life to come 😀.

The second hymn listed below, “Bless Be Your Name” is about being thankful in all circumstances. Even in the secular world, particularly in terms of mental health, people are seeing the benefits of a thankful spirit and gratitude meditations. And even if we don’t currently have good news, we can reflect on the past and think of times when we received good news. And sometimes, even the things that went wrong in our lives turned out for the better. I think of Job in the Old Testament, who faced all kinds of dreadful trials. Yet he stuck with God. There was a happy ending, but he never really found out why God has subjected him to the trials. He simply trusted him.

And here are a few hymns that explicitly declare good news.

Psalm 107:1
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
his love endures forever.

1 Thess 5:18
“Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”