I am one of those persons that will always insist that we should always praise God or declare that God is good despite our circumstances just because of who He is. God has to always be good because He is God! And I want to take this blog just to brag about the goodness of the Lord to me personally. Oh I tell you He is so good to us, He is too good to me. Every once in a while it is necessary that I pause to ponder on the goodness of God and think about where he has brought me and my family from, all that he has brought us through, and where he is taking us. Well, I was brought to that state of reflection again once during the Christmas break while I was talking to a friend of mine. He tells me he reads my blog and he doesn't know that he has been an encouragement to me to be who I am through our conversations, God bless him! He was telling me about stories concerning his family while they were in Africa. He explained to me about their situation as I stood in his bedroom. Most of my conversations with my African friends mostly include looking back at where we came from and simply sharing laughs about our circumstance (I imagine any African reading this right now would agree with me.) This conversation started off as one of that type, reflecting and laughing, but it got serious quickly as we were both forced to pause and to acknowledge that the mighty hand of the Lord was the only thing that had brought us through. He told me of how him and his parents and brothers were living in a refugee camp before they made the move to the United States. They had been forced out of their home because of war and had evacuated to a refugee camp where his family had no other choice but to share a single mat to sleep on at night and eat whatever food was available. Upon hearing his story, I could not help but also reflect on how the Lord had been working in my own family's lives. I said a quick silent prayer to the Lord thanking him for all that he had done for us.
A couple of weeks ago while I was at school, I laid in my bed late at night unable to sleep. My thoughts jumped from place to place, from this to that, and then suddenly, I was reminded of my conversation with my friend. I laid in my bed as hours passed by, and I found myself weeping tears of joy and gladness repeating the phrase "thank you, Lord, thank you, Lord." My thoughts went as far back as when I was a sickly child wrapped in the arms of my mother at the brink of death, and to that all I could say was "thank you, Lord." I thought about those days in the country of Ghana when the land was stricken with droughts to the point that it was difficult to find or grow food, but yet we survived, and to that, all I could say was "thank you, Lord." I thought about my family having the opportunity to come to the United States to begin a new life, and to that, all I could say was "thank you, Lord." I thought about that cold winter night in the city of New York when our plane landed and we were clueless about what was going on or how things were and where we would go or stay that night, and God (I love Him) spoke to a man that had sat next to my mother on the plane from Ghana, and he provided us a place to stay for the night. Who knows what would have happened to us if it was not for the grace of God on that incredibly cold winter night, and to that I said "thank you, Lord." I thought about our church members who came to the airport to welcome us that midnight and gave us jackets to shield us from the cold air that we were certainly unfamiliar with, and to that, all I could say was "thank you Lord." I thought about the days upon graduation from high school and thinking about how I was going to pay for college, but in the end, he provided and to that also, I said "thank you, Lord." I could go on and on but the thing is, I would go on and on. There is no end to the goodness of the Lord! I thanked God and sang that late night loudly and unashamed as I wept to the point that my pillow was soaked with tears dripping down the side of my face. I was overwhelmed. I flipped the pillow to the other side only to have produced the same results. I began singing this Ewe song that we always sang at church and at family devotions it goes something like this:
"Akpe mia da na Mawu
Akpe mia da na Mawu
Akpe mia da na Mawu
Mia da na Yesu
Mia da na Mawu
Akpe mia da na Mawu
Mia da na Yesu
Mia da na Mawu"
The song translated would go something like this:
We give thanks to God, give thanks to Jesus, give thanks to God.
Paul, the apostle, in his letter to the holy and faithful believers in Christ in Colosse, writes for them to let the peace of Christ rule in their hearts since as members of one body, they were called to peace. Then he tells them to be thankful and to let the word of Christ dwell richly within them as they teach and admonish each other with all wisdom, and to sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in their hearts to God. Then he adds that whatever they do, whether in word or deed, to do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ giving thanks to God the Father through Christ. If I can, I would like to encourage you with these same words. Give thanks to the Lord for he is good! Think about all that he has done for us, all that he has done for you.
I end this entry as I began. Thanks be to God, the Father of our Lord and Saviour Christ Jesus who looked down on us with great compassion and love and provided a way for us to be reconciled to Him forever and ever. To Him be all the glory and honor, and power now and forever more!
To God be the glory!!!
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