Thank God in Faith

Two years ago, Dens and I have decided that since we're spending a lot of time studying the Bible with our friends, why not schedule a weekly Bible study with our kids too. (Check out this old post about our Bible study routine here).  We are not so rigid with our routine and usually forego the opening prayer and just do a closing prayer before we sleep. But what we try to always incorporate is our thanksgiving time.

 

During our recent Bible studies, I have seen some improvement in how the kids share their praises.  Up until last year, it was almost always 'I thank God for my family' or 'I thank God for papa/mommy' which are not bad things to thank God for, but they were very general praises. We have been encouraging them to be more specific with their thanksgiving by also being specific with ours. For example I would say 'I thank God I was able to spend time watching Peppa Pig with Troy this morning on our way to school. I super enjoyed laughing so hard together on the funny parts'. And these days they would also share more specific things like 'I thank God I was able to score a goal during soccer practice today' or 'I thank God I was able to eat ice cream with sprinkles yesterday. 

 

Last Wednesday, during our Bible study, Dens shared how happy he was that he was able to have a half-day date with Dawn that day. They went to the grocery together, ate ice cream, and checked out some new cars in a showroom. Then during Dawn's time to share, she said "I thank God for my super fun date with papa and I also thank God for the super fun date I will have with mommy" When I heard this, I reiterated my promise to schedule a date with her and we started talking about what we wanted to do on our date. But more importantly, I realized how Dawn thanked the Lord for something that has yet to happen.

 

Isn't that what faith is all about? Trusting the Lord means thanking God in faith for things that have yet to happen.  So long as we are praying in line with God's promises in the Bible, then we can already thank God in advance. God never breaks his promises and we can rest in the assurance that when He says He has a great plan for our life, He really does! When He asks us to trust Him, it means that we can REALLY trust Him. He will not fail us.

 

Matthew 18:3 says "And he said: "Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." The truth is, we almost always overthink God's promises. Logic tells us that miracles are impossible in this day and age, but God says BELIEVE. How about we try having childlike faith instead and see where that faith brings us? I challenge you to study God's word and claim His promises. Then thank Him in faith for the wonderful future that He has in store for you.