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Grateful to be Greatful!
Quote: Gratitude makes sense of your past, brings peace to your present, and creates vision for your future!
“Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” 1 Thessalonians 5:18
How grateful a person are you?
Most people find it easy to show gratitude when someone has done something kind, helped them, or cut them some slack. But what about a general sense of gratefulness? How are you at giving thanks for the things we experience each day.
In the busyness of life, we might overlook seemly ordinary blessings. James 1:17 urges us to slow down and remember that even the smallest, good gifts are evidence of God’s love and care. Even in difficult times, there is always something we can be thankful for. God sustains us in every season. God’s goodness never runs out. Sometimes, it takes intentionally looking and contemplating to appreciate it, but we can find evidence of God’s provision whenever we look.
Thankfulness is an important part of life. We tend to be more obedient to God, greater servants of Christ, greater worshippers when we are thankful and grateful. It’s sad to say but most of us don’t remember to thank God (from whom all blessing flow), or to lift our voices, or hand in praise to the Lord for providing us with gifts, talents, opportunities, options, provisions, properties, etc.…, that He provides daily. Unfortunately, we live in a society that has a mindset of entitlement. Many act as if God owes us protection, provision, prosperity, or is supposed to do certain things for us because we periodically go to church, say a prayer, give a donation or acknowledge Him when something good happens. However, what about possessing a mindset of giving thanks.
The more we intentionally recognize and give thanks, the more aware we become of His wonderous work in our lives. Gratitude reminds us that every good and perfect gift points us back to the Giver, our gracious, loving, merciful, unchanging God!
I have been participating in a personal gratitude challenge. Every day, I challenge myself to begin my day with thanks and gratefulness. I start by naming and writing down 5 things that I am thankful for. I cannot repeat the same items each day. And each can’t relate to the others that I am mentioning. At first it was easy but as the days went on, I began to struggle. Truthfully, I was embarrassed that I couldn’t think of five unique things each day to be thankful for. The problem was not that I didn’t have enough to be grateful. Instead, I had so much that I couldn’t even see how the Lord had blessed me. My sense of blessing or gratitude was focused on what I could see, the stuff around me, the people, the tangible items, “the creature comforts”. In my narrow focus, I’d forgotten about the Source of all my gifts and blessings. I thank God for that reminder!
When I think about our key verse in 1 Thessalonians 5:18, it is easy to wonder how we can be thankful for our circumstances, especially if we only look to the things we can see that are good in our lives as a measure for our gratitude. This verse shares that gratitude is a lifestyle, a posture of the heart. Yes, we can be grateful for people and stuff, but a thankful heart doesn’t depend on our circumstances or the things that we believe make our lives better.
As we gather for the holidays, I encourage you to think more deeply about what you are grateful for. Focus on our eternal and temporal blessings. Give thanks as you embrace blessings that are seen as well as those which are unseen, God’s divine providence, His presence, His promises, His faithfulness, His gift of salvation and so much more. Be grateful to be grateful!
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