“Open wide your mouth and I will fill it.” Psalm 84:10
I love the visual of what the Lord is trying to communicate to us. We might picture birds with their heads tilted back opening as wide as their little beaks can stretch, chirping wildly. But I picture something else, my dad’s side of the family at Thanksgiving, who are as country as it gets. My Grandma’s spiritual gift was cooking, more specifically frying anything she saw roam around the property. If you ever watched a country boy at Thanksgiving, well let’s just say “it ain’t pretty”. My dad is one of six, five being boys. They lived on a farm and were fairly poor. If you weren’t quick, you’d miss out. Opening wide their mouths and filling it with more than they could possibly swallow became a matter of survival.
Opening wide our mouth like the birds and country boys is like us waiting for God. What are you waiting on the Lord for? A physical healing? Help? Comfort? Direction? Wisdom? Relief? Restoration in relationships? Blessing? Vindication? Fruit of faithfully obeying Christ? The Harvest of many heartfelt prayers for your lost loved ones? I love the sign language for wait. Open up your palms and wriggle your fingers. The picture is a child eagerly anticipating something amazing. This is what it is like to wait on the Lord; a child on Christmas Eve who can barely sleep in anticipation of the many exciting presents that await them.
So as we open wide our mouths at Thanksgiving, may we be incredibly grateful we serve a generous God who fills us with good things. We can be thankful for what we have and will have. Psalm 33:20-22 says, “Our soul waits for the Lord, He is our help and our shield. For our heart is glad in Him, because we trust in His holy name. Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us as we hope in you.
