Break ups are big business. Folks spend money to soothe a hurting heart. New clothes. Sweet treats. Even break up cakes. One company calls itself a break up concierge. We try to fill a void. We try to mark a season. Yet there is one break up we all need. We must break up with an ungrateful spirit.
We live in a culture that tells us to chase the self. Do me. Protect me. Promote me. Cancel whoever blocks me. But every season has a lesson. Every moment has a message. And the past is called the past because it has passed. It is over. It is finished. You cannot walk forward while tangled in yesterday.
I know some will say, “Pastor you do not know what I have been through.” You are right. I do not. But here is what I do know. Eyes have not seen. Ears have not heard. The best of God is still ahead.
I have had my own share of long nights. I have prayed in the dark. I have wept at midnight. I have asked God why. The holidays are a mixed bag of emotions. Grief seems to linger next to gratitude. But when I look back I see how many times God lifted me. I see how many times God dried my tears. So, I say thank you Lord. I will not complain.
Psalm 118 speaks to my soul. “You are my God and I will praise you. You are my God and I will exalt you.” The writer repeats it because we need to believe it. Life offers many false gods. We face quarrels. Wars. Sickness. Fear. Violence. Racism. Disinvestment. But God still rules. God still sees. God still acts.
God is Creator. The same God who spoke light into darkness. The same God who hovered over chaos. The same God who said, “Let there be.” That God is my God. That God holds my world together. I know who God is because I have lived long enough to see God show up. He shows up at the airport, at the funeral home, in the church meeting, in the courtroom and the financial aid office. I am not telling you what I heard. I am telling you what I know.
Then the psalmist says give thanks for God is good. This is a command. Not a suggestion. I choose to give thanks. Not because I feel like it. Not because the day is perfect. I have been in seasons when the feelings were slow to come. But if you act your way into gratitude the joy will rise again.
Give thanks. Throw your praise toward God. Do not sprinkle it. Pour it. Let the aroma rise like seasoning in a pot. Let the world smell the goodness of God. Your gladness reflects God’s goodness.
And do not mistake it. Your thanks goes to God. Not to the crowd. When I praise in my kitchen, I aim it at God. When I cry in my car, I aim it at God. When I step into the sanctuary, I enjoy seeing you—but I came to bless the Lord.
Psalm 118 is the song of a king who survived battle. That is us. Every morning you rise you return from battle. You made it. God helped you. God kept you. So do not judge my praise if you do not know my story.
Break up with the past. Break up with small thinking. Break up with low hope. Tell your fears you are unsubscribing.
For the Lord is good. And since God loves forever, we will praise forever.
Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.
The Reverend Dr. Anthony L. Riley serves as the 14th Pastor of the historic Central Baptist Church of St. Louis, the city’s second-oldest Black congregation.