Thankfulness is a
gift of the heart. And what an amazing, life-changing,
attitude-redirecting, joy-sustaining gift it is! Some days thankfulness
comes easy. I wake up in the morning and
the sun is shining. Days when so much
laughter fills my house it is bursting with joy. Times when my body moves
the way it’s supposed to. Seasons when
my children are healthy, happy and thriving.
Times when my marriage is strong, Mike and I are in sync with each other
and our hearts are full. Opportunities to spend time cultivating deep
friendships that are about so much more than just getting together socially,
but are soul enriching and heart stretching. Instances when I experience
a strong sense of purpose and calling and am brave enough to act on it. Days spent outside with my family doing what
we love. Chunks of times when worship is
automatic and God feels so close.
Moments when life is just good and blessings abound. Those are the days that a sense of gratitude
fills my heart instinctively and doesn’t take any effort at all.
But then there are
days that gratitude isn’t so instinctive. Times when being thankful is
work. Those days that are dark and
gloomy, maybe in terms of the weather, perhaps in terms of my soul...the sun
may be shining outside, but inside my heart is dark & stormy. Days
when worry and concern about friends or family members overwhelm my heart. Situations that seem impossible. Mornings that I wake up and everything hurts
and nothing moves the way it’s supposed to.
Moments when grief comes upon me suddenly and brutally. Days when
I feel like I can’t do anything right as a Mom and wife and am constantly
letting my family down. Relationships
are strained. Days are hard. God feels farther away. Those are the days that thankfulness requires
striving and intentionality. Days that I
have to work at being thankful.
Those are the
times that I have to stop and really take into account all that I have to be
thankful for. All the things that God has done for me, given me. How He has strengthened me. All of the ways that He has provided and
protected. I need to keep a record of them, speak gratitude out loud,
sing a song of praise about all of the many things that I have to be thankful
for.
Smack dab in the middle of the Bible are 43 Psalms of
Praise. I love all of them. What I
am struck with the most as I read through these psalms is the fact that most of
these praises of thanksgiving were not given in times of plenty and
comfort. They were sung in times of distress, in seasons of war, as they
were coming out of exile, facing physical danger and even death. Or in times of
God’s discipline for their sins. So many
of these psalms began with a cry of pain, fear or discouragement, a plea for
rescue...and then their songs turned to praise and thanksgiving. Their
gratitude was not found without striving and intentionality...it didn’t come
easily. Sometimes it required looking
back and seeing how God had been faithful in the past and had never forgotten
or forsaken them. Sometimes it required
them singing praises of gratitude from the heart while their outward
circumstances were hard. Not waiting to be thankful once God delivered
them, but while they were still in the midst of trouble.
I have learned so many lessons by reading these Psalms of
Praise. Some days thanksgiving comes easy and is a natural response to
the wonderful blessings that surround me. But other days gratitude comes
from a heart that is crying out to God; it is hard fought for. It comes with striving. It calls for
being intentional about seeking out what I have to be thankful for. And so often the very pain, trial, hard
circumstances that I am facing is exactly what I discover I am grateful
for. Because that’s where God is working on molding and shaping me,
strengthening my faith, making me more compassionate, giving me motivation to
follow Him above all else.
Thankfulness is a gift of the heart...and yes, what a wonderful
gift it is! I pray that you are overwhelmed with such a feeling of
gratitude no matter what your situation or circumstances are, that you are able
to see how God is working in those circumstances, and that you know the ever
faithful, never changing love He has for you.
“Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good;
His faithful love endures forever.
Let the redeemed of the Lord proclaim
That He has redeemed them from the hand of the foe
And has gathered them from the lands -
From the east and the west,
From the north and the south.
Some wandered in the desolate wilderness,
Finding no way to a city where they could live.
They were hungry and thirsty;
Their spirits failed within them.
Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble;
He rescued them from their distress
He led them by the right path
To go to a city where they could live.
Let them give thanks to the Lord
For His faithful love
And His wonderful works for all humanity.
For he has satisfied the thirsty
And filled the hungry with good things.
Others sat in darkness and gloom -
Prisoners in cruel chains -
Because they rebelled against God’s commands
And despised the counsel of the Most High.
He broke their spirits with hard labor;
They stumbled, and there was no one to help.
Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble;
He saved them from their distress.
He brought them out of the darkness and gloom
And broke their chains apart.
Let them give thanks to the Lord
For His faithful love
And His wonderful works for all of humanity.
For He has broken down the bronze gates
And cut through the iron bars.
Fools suffered affliction
Because of their rebellious ways and their sins.
They loathed all food
And came near the gates of death.
Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble;
He saved them from their distress
He sent His word and healed them;
He rescued them from the pit.
Let them give thanks to the Lord
For His faithful love
And His wonderful works for all humanity.
Let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving
And announce His works with shouts of joy.
Others went to sea in ships,
Conducting trade on the vast waters.
They saw the Lord’s works,
His wonderful works in the deep.
He spoke and raised a tempest
That stirred up the waves of the sea.
Rising up to the sky, sinking down to the depths,
Their courage melting away in anguish,
They reeled and staggered like drunken men,
And all their skill was useless.
Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble,
And He brought them out of their distress.
He stilled the storm to a murmur,
And the waves of the sea were hushed.
They rejoiced when the waves grew quiet.
Then He guided them to the harbor they longed for.
Let them give thanks to the Lord
For His faithful love
And His wonderful works for all humanity,
Let them exalt him in the assembly of the people
And praise Him in the council of the elders.
He turns rivers into desert,
Springs of water into thirsty ground,
And fruitful land into salty wasteland,
Because of the wickedness of its inhabitants.
He turns a desert into a pool of water,
Dry land into springs of water.
He causes the hungry to settle there,
And they establish a city where they can live.
They sow fields and plant vineyards
That yield a fruitful harvest.
He blesses them, and they multiply greatly;
He does not let their livestock decrease.
When they are diminished and are humbled
By cruel oppression and sorrow,
He pours contempt on nobles
And makes them wander in a trackless wasteland.
But He lifts the needy out of their suffering
And makes their families multiply like flocks.
The upright see it and rejoice,
And all injustice shuts its mouth.
Let whoever is wise pay attention to these things
And consider the Lord’s acts of faithful love.
Psalm 107
Happy Thanksgiving all!
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