Thankful

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Scripture: Psalm 30

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Family Resources: Each week our team creates great church at home resources for children and youth. You can find this week’s resources here.

Take it Further: Somewhere between Mourning and Dancing by Gabrielle Redcay

Video chat, after text message, after phone call, we ask, “How are you
doing?”

I mean, there’s not much else to talk about. In the absence of activity, we become all the more aware of our
emotions—for better or for worse.

Maybe I say, “I’m fine. I’m enjoying the pause.” Maybe I say, “I’m frustrated. I’m fed up, and there’s no end in
sight.”

To be honest, I’m not really sure how I’m doing. In a matter of minutes, whatever haphazard response I might
provide no longer seems accurate. One sentence doesn’t do justice to my muddled and ever-changing thoughts.

We humans crave certainty, stability, truth. We want weeping for a night and rejoicing in the morning. But what
about times when we awake and the tears have not gone away?

The psalmists understood this tension. In one sentence, desperation. In the next, praise.

Right now, I need the Psalms to put language to my inner confusion. Each day I grapple with conflicting thoughts
and emotions, and each psalm reminds me that I’m not alone.

This time may seem unprecedented—as every commercial, email, and press briefing reminds us—but this tension
is not an unprecedented human experience. For centuries, believers have struggled with the realities of our broken
world. And yet, they decided to trust God. I pray that’s where we land, too.

But I’m not there yet—or at least, I’m not there today. I can meditate on the words of Psalm 30 and believe them to be
true, while also lamenting how different they are from my heart’s current cry.

And that’s okay. Through the Psalms, the God of little delights and astonishing miracles has gifted us with 150
examples of the ranging human experience. He’s given us sacred permission to lay our emotions at His
feet—however jumbled and however unsanctified.

A couple decades ago, another Christ-follower put it this way: “Oh God, we don’t understand it all, but we believe
you are the great and the mighty God.”

Today, that’s where my psalm would end—somewhere in between mourning and dancing. Even so, I’m choosing to
voice every emotion to my heavenly Father, whose praises I long to sing.

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We’d love to hear from you. Please share with us below your thoughts and insight. We would love to see Take it Further be a place where as a community we dialog, and together we all take the conversation further.

*Note: If you wish, you can look up this and other Bible passages online at youversion.com
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