Casandra Martin

Seventh grade science requires a strong stomach. In seventh grade, we were introduced to microscopes. Armed with the ability to look closely at things that we had not paid much attention to before, we clustered in small groups around the microscope and examined everything. Things came out of people’s pockets, were scraped off the floor, picked out of noses, and pulled from the trash and stuck under the lens to be scrutinized by inquiring seventh grade minds. Infinitesimal details became giant realities as we enlarged our treasures. Magnification gave us a whole new way to see the world.

“I will praise the name of God with a song;

I will magnify him with thanksgiving.” – Psalm 69:30

The act of thanksgiving is a magnifier. It changes the way we see. Our days can be busy, hectic, stressful, and overwhelming. When they are, the pressures of this world loom large. They cast long shadows, suffocating our souls in subtle ways. Cares seem bigger. Hurts are harder to bear. Loneliness grabs us, burrowing in next to fear and worry in our hearts. When we speak our gratitude, it magnifies God. It adjusts our perspective. It allows us to see the details differently. It helps us examine the pieces of our lives, realigning the realities with the truth of His goodness. Things that seemed huge and overwhelming are put in their proper context when we magnify the ways God pours Himself into our days.

My Jesus Resolution today is to pay attention to the way thanksgiving magnifies God. Every choice to be grateful has the power to help me see God more clearly. Today I want to magnify the way that God has worked in the details of my life. I want to see His grace with more clarity, His love with more intensity, His will with more humility, and His holiness with more awe. When God is magnified in me, the world becomes smaller. Its influence has less pull on my heart. I am able to focus more intently on the beauty I often miss when I let the world overshadow the cross.