Giving thanks after the storm

1Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;

his love endures forever.2Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story—
those he redeemed from the hand of the foe,3those he gathered from the lands,from east and west, from north and south.^a

28Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble,

and he brought them out of their distress.

29He stilled the storm to a whisper;

the waves of the sea^b were hushed.

30They were glad when it grew calm,

and he guided them to their desired haven.

31Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love

and his wonderful deeds for mankind.

32Let them exalt him in the assembly of the people

and praise him in the council of the elders. (Psalm 107) 

Thoughts: There is always a tendency that, when God spares us, to feel guilty. It is an interesting phenomenon, but common.  In war, the person who saw many of his comrades in arms killed has a bit of guilt that he survives.  I think of the classic movie, "Saving Private Ryan."  The movie starts at the graves of his fellow soldiers in France.  The survivor, Private Ryan, was rescued though several died in order to save him.  In tears he cries, "I hope I earned this.  I have lived a good life."  The Psalmist invites us away from the guilt of survival into thanksgiving.  In fact, he invites us to come to the assembly (to worship) and give thanks.  Giving thanks builds up our faith in God, and helps us to focus in healthy ways.  Part of giving thanks in the Bible is to bring thank offerings.  This is an additional offering from the tithe.  At our church we are grateful for only minor damage like power outages (about a fourth of our congregation lost power some time), or a tree or two down.  Yet we are close enough to the damage (much like the flood of 2015), where we can make a difference to those who are hurting.  So we are collecting materials to be taken down toward the coast (water, food, diapers, hygiene products- toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap, combs) for those still in shelters or who have been flooded out.  Let us give thanks to the Lord, and let us seek to help others with compassion.  Our God has helped us perhaps so we can help others.

Prayer: Thank you Lord for watching over us.  Thank you for sparing us.  Thank you that you calm the storm to a whisper.  

[I had internet outages and was unable to post some of my devotions over the weekend- this is a new start].