Psalm 100:4-5

New Living Translation

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.

A few weeks ago, I started pondering a little prayer I learned to recite in pre-school. You’ve probably heard of it, or maybe even memorized it yourself as a child,

“God is good.

God is great.

Let us thank Him for our food.

By His hand, we are fed.

Give us Lord, our daily bread.

Amen.”

At the same time, I was also meditating on verses 4 and 5 of Psalm 100. Taking God quite literally at His Word, my man and I started thanking God and praising Him each morning during our daily walks.

Realizing my personality type lends itself to focusing on the negative/glass half full point of view, I wondered if this discipline might change my perspective and perhaps hinder some of my grumbling and complaining.

It didn’t.

At least, not right away.

But when my scheduled fasting day arrived this week, something shifted. I started seeing things differently. In the morning, I felt discouraged and deeply disappointed about a few things. To be honest, I just wanted to stay in bed and pout about it, or maybe even throw a preschool sized pity party. But instead of looking inward, I looked upward. I sought the Father – and His Kingdom. I entered into His gates with thanksgiving. I went into His courts with praise. And then, seemingly out of nowhere, right in the middle of the mundane of the day, revelation came.

Manna from heaven.

Daily bread.

Here’s the hard truth about fasting: it HURTS! But you know what can happen when we persevere (by His grace) through physical pain? Emotional pain has the opportunity to rise to the surface. Crucifying our flesh allows His Spirit to reveal what’s hidden and covered up in our soul. This is how He purifies our hearts! In His presence, God himself invites us to pour out our complaints and process all our feels in a healthy, productive way. Then, as we surrender our will to His, we are able to see things from HIS perspective. And that vantage point, my friend, is far above every power or principality of darkness that tries to deceive or tempt us to doubt that…

God really is good.

God really is great.