God is Great, God is Good

Once upon a time a man grew very sad. Because of the hardships in his life, he was losing faith in himself, in other people, and even faith in God. One rainy morning he ventured to a small neighborhood restaurant for breakfast.

Other people in the diner must have had their mood dampened by the rain, too, for no one was talking to anyone else. This miserable man hunched over the counter, silently stirring his coffee with a spoon. But over in one of the small booths along the window was a young mother with her little girl. They had just been served their food when the little girl broke the sad silence in the restaurant.

“Mommy, why don’t we say our prayers here like we do at home?”

Both the waitress and the mother agreed that it would be fine to pray. In fact, it was the waitress who said, ‘Sweetheart, why don’t you say the prayer for us?’

So the little girl turned and looked at the other diners and said, “Bow your heads!”

Surprisingly, or maybe not so surprisingly, one by one, the heads went down. The little girl then bowed her head, folded her hands, and said, “God is great. God is good. Let us thank Him for our food. Amen.” You know what? That gesture of grateful prayer changed the entire atmosphere in the restaurant. People began to talk to each other, smiling. The waitress said, “We should do that every morning.” Even the man who had been so miserable stopped stirring his coffee long enough to examine his misery.

In fact, he wrote a note to the mother: “I want to thank you and your daughter for coming here on this rainy day. Because of your daughter’s prayer, I started to thank God for all that I do have, and have made a commitment not to worry so much about what I don’t have! My whole frame of mind is better. My heart is filled with gratitude.” (based on a story in Living Life on Purpose: Greg Anderson, Harper San Francisco, 1977)

“My heart is filled with gratitude,” he said.

I hope and pray that your hearts are filled with gratitude this Thanksgiving, and all your life long.

Gratefully,

Pastor Mel Amundson,
Interim Senior Pastor