Live Authentically. Love deeply. Lead Boldly.

Psalm 118: Give Thanks for the Storms 

My grandparents have a wheat farm, and I remember one of my favorite things as a little girl in the summer was to drive lunch out to the harvesters. It was then I was able to ride on the combine and play in the wheat truck. If you’ve never played in cut wheat it is like sinking into a soft bed of sand, but you’re almost buoyant. Then there were the homemade cookies… yum! I can still smell and taste those chocolate chips now. Nothing better than a grandma made cookie.

These were the good days, when the wheat is cut and the harvest is plentiful. However, there were years of drought where I didn’t really understand what was happening on those trips out to deliver lunch. For one, there weren’t very many of them because there wasn’t much wheat to cut. Secondly, nobody seemed as happy about those chocolate chip cookies.

What I didn’t understand is the storms did not come that year. The lightning, the thunder, the rain. The storms never appeared those years and neither did the wheat.

There are many storms in my life I would have preferred to not weather. Perhaps even all of them.  However, on the other side of each storm I can see the purpose and am filled with gratitude. 

For instance, I wouldn’t be here in this community if it hadn’t been for one of my biggest storms in life thus far. This particular storm found me sitting in my backyard for six weeks, unable to answer the question, “What brings you joy?” I didn’t have a clue. That wrecked me as I spiraled down into the realization that not only didn’t I have a clue about joy, I couldn’t even tell you about myself. Who was I? How did I get to this place?

I now give thanks to this storm because it brought me right here with you. It gave me the vision to see how I can help others find themselves again. We all get lost from time to time, but so too can we be found. 

There is no harvest without the storm. 

God gives us grace and our job is to give thanks. This is God’s unconditional command: that we live thankful. Read Psalm 118, but here is a snippet from verses 23-24: “This came from the Lord; it is wondrous in our sight. This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”

His grace and our gratitude echo each other in everything we do. 

Psalm 118: 28-29 “You are my God, and I will give you thanks. You are my God; I will exalt you. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his faithful love endures forever.”

Reflection Questions: 

1) What storms in your life have later produced a harvest?

2) What can you do to celebrate and remember the grace God has lavished on you?