STILL, GRATEFUL

Hello there dear gist partner.

If I tell you “Merry Christmas” you go still collect? Anyway, MERRY CHRISTMAS! Sorry it’s coming so late, the last few days have sped by quite fast so I’ve not been able to come here to gist.

Welcome, however, to today’s gist.

No matter whatever else we say about the devil, I believe we can all agree that he’s a crafty being. Recently, he set to preying on my mind; for some reason for a couple of days as we began to draw toward the end of the year, my mind became so fixed on the ‘many’ things going wrong around me that I began to, unwittingly, lose my gratitude, and at a time when my gratitude is supposed to be at an all-time high! I was struggling with being grateful because everything, by my calculations, just seemed to be going wrong.

But something happened on Friday that set my screws working aright again. I was at a worship meeting and something shifted within me; finally, I was able to truly see! My sight moved from my plans and the things that were going awry according to my calculations and God gave me a brief, very fast, run-through of 2024, from January to December and believe me I was floored! The journey this year has been such a trip! As I ran through the year in my mind, I could see the hand of God carrying me through the year. You know the funny thing, na summary I see wey correct my head oo, in depth analysis of the various mercies of God this year been never happen at that time.

I realized something, the devil wanted me to be so focused on the things that are seemingly not going according to plan that I forget to be grateful for the many wonderful things God has done for me, imagine leaving the year with a feeling of ingratitude! Thank God for God oo! He did not let the devil’s scheming concerning me come to pass. The devil still came and was trying to bring to mind the things that were not going to plan but my response? “Still, I’m grateful” because I am! From a cursory look to an in-depth analysis of the year, I’ve seen God’s mighty hand upon my life in so many ways and I am mighty grateful for all He has done for me.

In case you are being preyed upon like I was and you are almost falling into despair because it seems that nothing is going right in your life, I implore you to look again, this time don’t look at your plans, just take a few minutes to look at each month in this year and think of all the ‘narrow escapes’ you experienced, the big blessings, the very unexpected gifts God gave you, opportunities you got, whether you had to struggle tooth and nail to get it or it came to you with ease, your health, whether or not you had to spend time in the hospital… run through the year, make a list of the many blessings God has given you, you sef go shock! And when you see these marvelous things He has done, do thank Him intentionally for each gift. And when the devil brings to mind the ‘failures’ and ‘wrongs’ of the year, reply “still, I’m grateful”, as we go through the remaining few hours of 2024 and enter 2025, intentionally give God quality praise and heartfelt gratitude for 2024, don’t let the devil steal your gratitude!

May God help us not to lose our gratitude.

TUNES AND THOUGHTS: two songs have been resonating in my spirit the last few days and I’m sharing them both with you: ‘Ihe inemerem dimma’ by Rhema Onuoha, the words translates to mean "what You do for me is good" and the entire song is pretty much a recurring chant of the fact that what God has done for me, and you too, is good. And then there’s ‘Excess love’ by Mercy Chinwo; particularly the words “thank You for loving me too much oo, unconditionally, thank You for loving me too much oo”. I pray that these songs spur your heart into greater gratitude as you listen.

Well, that is that about that as far as 2024 is concerned! Thank you dear gist partner for staying with me through this year, I do not take it for granted, you have stayed with me here on the blog and I’m so grateful!

See you next year!

 

Love,

Achenyo.

 

PS. My father’s 70th birthday is on Sunday! Please say a prayer of blessing over him.