With Thanksgiving just around the corner, I thought it would be an appropriate time to bring up what I feel a lot of us are lacking right now: gratefulness.
When life gets hard and things don't seem to be going our way, the last way we feel like acting is grateful, but maybe we're doing it all wrong.
I recently tried this new approach to taking on hard situations, one that included finding something to be grateful for even in the worst of times. Your response at this point might be, "Well, my life is falling apart. I'm failing a class, my heart just got broken, my family is a mess and my friends are no where to be found, what do I possibly have to be grateful for?" The answer to that question is a lot, you have a lot to be grateful for, no matter what your situation is.
If you're reading this article, chances are you have a functioning phone/computer and hey that's somewhere to start! You have the ability to go to your closest sink/water fountain and be provided water essentially at your fingertips, while others have to walk miles for it. You have a roof over your head and heat to keep you warm as the temperatures are dropping.
The fact of the matter is, even though you have a roof over your head, water to drink and food to eat doesn't mean you aren't suffering. But my point is, when we begin to think of how blessed we are and change our hearts to be grateful hearts, we find pain and suffering a lot more bearable, which is exactly what I experienced when I tried this approach. There was a lot less room for the enemy's input, and a lot more room for God to fill my heart. I was reminded that God is the giver of all gifts. I allowed more room for continuous blessings.
We are daughters and sons of King, the ever present and all providing God.
He has blessed you beyond measure with talents, gifts, love and tangible objects. Even when you are at your lowest of lows, it is important to remain grateful, thanking God for all He has provided you. When we dwell on that in which we can't control, we tell God that He hasn't provided us with what we need, and the truth is, He has, for all that we have has been graciously given to us by Him.
"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” James 1:17
My challenge to you would be, in the times where you feel you are suffering of faced with a lot of sadness, make a list of all you are grateful for. These things can be as small or as huge, intangible or tangible as you wish, just choose to be grateful for something. There is so much power in a thankful heart. Power to change your outlook on a situation, thus changing the ultimate outcome of the situation. When you feel that your heart is straying away from gratefulness, pray that God would open your eyes to all that He has provided and blessed you with.
“O Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; Let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation. Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise! For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.” Psalm 95:1-3