Day 11

Thank You, my gracious and sovereign God, that You have been with me and carried me from the day of my birth until today…that You have known my whole life, from beginning to end, since before I was born…and that You wrote in Your book all the days that You ordained for me before one of them came to be.

Thank You that in Your gracious plan to bless and use me, You’ve allowedme to go through hard times, through trials that many people go through in this fallen world. How glad I am that You’re so good at reaching down and making something beautiful out of even the worst situations! How encouragedI am when I think how You did this for Joseph…how this brothers hated and abused and betrayed him, and how You worked these things out for blessing, both for Joseph and his family and for countless other people.

I praise You that the things that happened in my past, both enjoyable and painful, are raw materials for blessings, both in my life and in the lives of other. So I thank You for the specific family (or lack of family) into which I was born and the opportunities You did or did not provide. And thank You for the things in my past that appear to be limitations, hindrances, bad breaks…the wounds of old hurts, the unmet emotional needs, the mistakes or neglect of other people—even their cruelty to me, their abuse.

In everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. I Thessalonians 5:18