SHIFT

Shift
Did you ever have a Thanksgiving where you felt like you were forcing yourself to give thanks? It feels unnatural to give thanks when the year has been more about worrying and whining than thanking. 09 has been that kind of year.

We started the year in a recession, we end it with double-digit unemployment – will I keep my job? We’ve added another trillion dollars to our debt load – how will my kids ever repay it? The flu bug packs an H1N1 double punch – should I get that vaccine? Church has new faces coming with older faces leaving – should I look around too? Public schools become more violent and less tolerant of Christian views – should I pull my kids out?

We need to shift.

We use to have an ‘85 Suburban that was as ugly as it was large. One day it started whining. Then it sounded like I’d run over a trash can full of rocks. The transmission quit working in anything but 2nd gear. So, I drove home in 2nd gear – with the engine overheating and the whining continuing. It needed to shift, but it couldn’t. We can.

This year, if you’ve been anything like me, we’ve been focusing too much on ourselves. We’ve become nervous worrying and whining humans. It’s time to shift our focus off of ourselves and on to the God who is faithful. Lets shift our focus on to the Great I AM.

Psalms 100:1-5 says, 1 Shout with joy to the Lord, all the earth! 2 Worship the Lord with gladness. Come before him, singing with joy. 3 Acknowledge that the Lord is God! He made us, and we are his. We are his people, the sheep of his pasture. 4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving; go into his courts with praise. Give thanks to him and praise his name. 5 For the Lord is good. His unfailing love continues forever, and his faithfulness continues to each generation. (NLT)

I AM was around before there was an earth, He is here now, and He will be faithful to watch out after our children’s children. Even after this earth is destroyed, His love for you continues. We will praise him then. We can thank Him now. Lets stop whining. Lets shift into another gear.

Dan