We just celebrated Thanksgiving, and I certainly have much to be thankful for. It’s easy to be grateful for the good things … friends, family, health, food, shelter, clothes, etc. etc. But lately God has challenged me to be thankful for some less-than-ideal things.
Replace the grumble.
A typical morning: My 13-year-old dog wakes me up from a deep sleep because she wants breakfast –grumble-. As I stumble out of bed, I’m reminded of all my body aches … neck, back, shoulders –grumble!- I feed the dog, then decide to feed myself. I make a cup of coffee, then pull a breakfast sandwich out of the freezer, but I can’t read the tiny print that tells me how long to heat it up for –grumble!!- I hunt down my reading glasses, toss the sandwich in the microwave, but then my kid needs something and I get distracted. By the time I get back to my coffee and sandwich, both are ice-cold –grumble!!!
Lately the Holy Spirit has shown me that there’s a lot to be grateful for in my morning routine. I am thankful that my old dog is still with me. Though my body hurts, I am thankful that I’m not bed-ridden or wheelchair bound. Though my eyesight is getting worse, praise God I can still see! And though my coffee and egg-muffin are cold, I’m glad to have sustenance.
I’ve started to replace the grumble with gratitude and it has improved my mornings dramatically.
In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
I Thessalonians 5:18
Thankful for “no”.
God, why didn’t you give me ______?
My “blank” has lots of things in it. Wealth, fame, talent, etc. If God were a genie that granted wishes, I’d be a rockstar/movie-god with mansions, yachts, and a private jet (just one, ’cause I’m not greedy or anything).
Sometimes I look at what the millionaires and billionaires have and wonder why God is holding out on me. Instead of being grateful for what I have, I start to envy what I don’t.
But God has given me an answer to my question, and it’s actually a little embarrassing. I know that if God gave me all the things my sinful heart desires, my relationship with Him would go down the toilet. I would be caught up in, and consumed by, the pleasures of this world, and I would go spiritually bankrupt.
There’s a passage in proverbs where Agur asks God specifically not to give him riches for this very reason.
…give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’
Proverbs 30:8-9
I’m like a child who wants pizza and ice-cream for every meal, and can’t understand why his parents say, “no!” I’m learning that when God says “no” it’s for my benefit.
Grateful in suffering.
In II Corinthians, the Apostle Paul talks about his “thorn in the flesh.” We’re not given the details, but it’s clear from the passage that this thorn is something very unpleasant. Three times Paul asks God to remove it, and God replies, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (II Corinthians 12:9a)
Paul came to understand that even this difficult thing in his life was there for his good. It kept him humble, and it allowed God to continue to work through him.
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.
That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
II Corinthians 12:9-10
It’s hard to be grateful when you’re hurting. It may be the most difficult test of faith. To be in physical or emotional pain and believe that God is good and that your pain has a purpose.
Remember this promise from the book of Romans:
And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
Romans 8:28
Challenge yourself to be a grateful person. Be grateful for what you have, and for what you don’t. Be grateful in the midst of suffering, believing that one day you will understand how everything you experienced in life was a manifestation of God’s love, mercy, and grace.
