Let all that I am praise the Lord; may I never forget the good things he does for me. Psalm 103:2
Imagine struggling to find food today and knowing it’s only going to get worse.
That’s what’s happening in Zimbabwe, a poor country facing severe weather that’s worsening its dry climate. Millions of people are food insecure, and the future outlook is expected to be worse.[1]
A Zimbabwean woman named Aneni shared her fears with a relative over the phone. “All my crops were burned by the sun. I don’t know how we will get to next year or what we will eat,” she explained. But, after weeks of worry, Aneni made a bold decision. She declared, “My worry can’t change anything. I’m going to worship God. My name means ‘God is with me,’ and I choose to believe it’s true.”
Aneni started singing songs of love and thanks to God. Even when she ran out of things to be thankful for, she kept saying, “God, I know you are good. I know you love me. I believe you have a plan!”
Many brave men and women throughout the Bible worshiped like Aneni. Psalm 103 is one such song where the writer reminded himself during hard times of all the good things God had done, clinging to that truth even in hardships. In verse 2, he declares, “Let all that I am praise the Lord; may I never forget the good things he does for me.” In another song he says, “Day and night I have only tears for food… Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again—my Savior and my God!” (Psalm 42:3, 11)
In hardship, we can join Aneni in saying, “God, I know you are good. I know you love me. I believe you have a plan!”
[1] “Zimbabwe: World Food Programme.” UN World Food Programme, www.wfp.org/countries/zimbabwe. Accessed 17 July 2024.
