Over the course of the past year, I have been doing a devotional based on the chronological life of Jesus. It is very interesting and very often convicting. Today was one of those convicting days. The story today, was the story of Jesus healing the ten lepers. The story is found in Luke chapter 17. Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem and is traveling to different villages along the way.

¹¹ Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. ¹² As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance¹³ and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”¹⁴ When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed.¹⁵ One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. ¹⁶ He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan.¹⁷ Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? ¹⁸ Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” ¹⁹ Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”

As I read through these words that I have read so many times before, I thought, how could they not return and say thank you when such an amazing thing had happened to them?

Immediately, I felt the Holy Spirit say, do you go back and say thank you? I then thought about all the times in a day when I cry out to God to help me with something, whether it is to make it to where I am going when my gas tank is low, or to help me have strength to do something that I need to do. Or maybe to find something I need at a store, you get my point. I cry out to God to help me with a million things a day and yet how many times do I take the moment to stop and thank and praise him for those things? How often do I even remember that I asked him to help with a particular thing and realize that he helped me? It was a tough enough realization that I probably don’t do this any where near enough, but the conviction didn’t stop there. I then thought about what do I do when God hasn’t answered something where or when or how I would want? God does more things than I can count for me in a day why is it that I forget to thank him for those things but I am very quick to remember the things I feel he didn’t do? The truth is I am no different most the time than those 9 lepers who did not return to Jesus. I go about my day and while of course I am thankful, how often do I actually stop and take the time to thank him and praise him for all He does for me throughout the day and for all he has done for me throughout my life? Are those things any less incredible than the lepers being healed? No, of course not! Jesus rescued me, He lived for me, He died for me, He rose conquering sin and death and made a way that I could become a daughter of God. What could be more incredible than that! He doesn’t stop there though, He walks with me daily, He rejoices with me, He weeps with me, He carries me when I don’t have the strength to go on. Yet, what do I do? I worry, I complain about the things in may life that he hasn’t changed or fixed or healed etc. I have often said if I put half the time I spend worrying and complaining into praying who knows what would happen?!

Why do I do this? Why is it that I let so much of what is going on around me take over my thoughts and forget how utterly amazing God is? Regardless of why, I know the solution is to more and more remind myself of who God is, to remind myself of the truth of the Gospel moment by moment because sometimes day by day isn’t enough. To allow my faith to rise up. Jesus told the man “rise and go, your faith has made you well“ To remember that above all God is sovereign and He is in control. Regardless of what he does or does not do in any given day, I can say thank you because I know that He is my father who loves me and he knows what’s best.

Lord help me to thank you more and more, help me to focus on all that you have done, are doing, and will continue to do in my life! Increase my faith that I can rise each day knowing that you have done it all! Thank you Lord, there is none like you!