I spent a good chunk of my day yesterday researching some questions raised by my last few posts on modesty. I found a lot of great answers in Scripture and Christian tradition, and I look forward to sharing them here. I had actually planned to post some of those thoughts today, but last night I realized that I need to pause for a moment and do something more important first.
This week has been an incredible week for Ike and me. God answered a LOT of big prayers in a short period of time. One is related to Ike’s doctoral work, and while it is a very long story that I won’t go into here, let’s just say that God has been orchestrating some awesome stuff behind the scenes that we never would have anticipated. He was making Ike’s path straight and opening doors that we didn’t know could be opened, and we are praising Him for it.
We also found out this past week that we are having a baby boy, which is awesome news in and of itself, but the bigger answer to prayer was the news that the baby is healthy. Before every major ultrasound I become very anxious about what we will learn, so it was a relief and a joy to learn that our son is healthy as a horse!
In addition to these good things, God has answered a number of “smaller” prayers, and last night as I reflected on His goodness I was overwhelmed by His faithfulness. I don’t know if this pregnancy has simply enhanced my prayer life so that I am going to God more often in prayer, or if I am simply paying more attention to the answers, but He has been unbelievably good to us. Our cups are running over.
So on this Palm Sunday as we enter into Holy Week and remember the triumphant entry of Christ, I want to pause and offers thanks to God. He is good and He is worthy of our praise.
Holy Week is sobering as we remember that the same people who waved celebratory palm fronds later jeered at Jesus’ crucifixion. And yet this sobering look at human nature is also a reason to praise God. I am so thankful that God’s love for me is determined first and foremost by His faithfulness, not mine.
I am a fickle-hearted woman who is slow to trust and quick to doubt. I do not surrender my all, I take my sin lightly, and I forget to thank Him. But He is still here and He is still good. He still hears my prayers and answers my cries. He has shown me mercy when I did not deserve it, and He continues to sanctify me so that I can love Him and serve Him the way that I desire.
So today is all about thanking God and praising Him. God has been abundantly good to the Millers, and we would be remiss not to express our thanks publicly. Praise be to God!!
Psalm 105:1-3
Give praise to the LORD, proclaim his name;
make known among the nations what he has done.
Sing to him, sing praise to him;
tell of all his wonderful acts.
Glory in his holy name;
let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice.
What a wonderful week of blessings, Sharon!
I absolutely love your blog, and especially this post; instead of jumping to what many would consider the more important priority of explaining on previous posts, you instead pause to give thanks!
One question about Palm Sunday in general: I have never understood where waving palm fronds came from. In all four of the gospels, the triumphal entry has people laying down cloaks and sometimes branches, only specifically palm fronds in John. Where is the biblical basis for saying that the people who came out to meet Jesus WAVED palm fronds? Is it an assumption or inference from Scripture? I’m using ESV, if that makes any difference.