How to Choose Gratitude
November is nearly over, which means our time talking about gratitude is coming to a close, too. This month, we’ve heard from Sharon Purcell about how she and her husband are able to list all they are grateful for following her husband’s battle with prostate cancer. Diane encouraged us with her advice for choosing gratitude, even when you don’t feel like it.
Even though Thanksgiving has come and gone, your spirit of gratitude can still go on strong! As Diane said, gratitude is about the posture of your heart. Keeping this in mind will be helpful on the good days and especially helpful on the hard days. Even on the darkest of days, you will always be able to find something to be grateful for, even though it may seem impossible.
“Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe,” Hebrews 12:28
It’s an exercise in faith to give thanks every day. There will be days that start well and end well, with obvious signs of God’s hand of blessing in your life. Then there will be days that seem to be dragging you down more and more with every passing minute, tossing you into the churning waters of uncertainty and despair. How do you choose gratitude on both of those days? By focusing on the fact that you are part of an unshakeable kingdom, ruled by an unshakable King. No matter what life dishes you in a day, at the end of that day, you can still give thanks for being His. That is something that even the worst of days can never take away.
When you’re searching for gratitude, here are some ways to start:
- What is one unexpected turn your day took today? Think about where that change brought you and how your day could have gone differently without it.
- What basic comforts were you able to enjoy today, maybe even without noticing?
- Do you have a place to call home? Do you have a job that provides for you and yours? Do you have food in your pantry and clothes on your back?
You should never expect to have perfect days full of things to praise God for. That is not something any of us is promised. What we are promised is a relationship with a Father who wants the best for His children. That desire may manifest itself in obvious blessings, or it may appear in the form of a blessing hidden in a hard time. Just remember to always choose gratitude. It is an unnatural exercise at first, but it will lead to supernatural peace that will sustain you through any day.
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