Sometimes it’s difficult to be thankful. When everything is going great, it’s not much of a challenge. When everything is going great at work, your marriage is ideal, your children are behaving and all of your friends are healthy and happy, thankfulness is a natural response. However, the Bible doesn’t simply tell us to be thankful when it’s easy. Instead, we read verses like this one:
1 Thessalonians 5:18 (TPT)
And in the midst of everything be always giving thanks, for this is God’s perfect plan for you in Christ Jesus.
In the midst of everything? What about when you find out that your job has been outsourced in a corporate effort to cut costs? What about when you’re served with divorce papers that announce that your spouse is dissolving your marriage? How are you supposed to give thanks when your children seem to be living as wickedly as possible? What is there to be thankful for when your closest friend calls you and tells you about a doctor’s report that doesn’t offer much hope? In the “midst of everything,” being thankful is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
That’s easier said than done though, isn’t it? In the face of adversity, thanksgiving is the last thing on our minds. But, if that’s God’s will for our lives, there has to be a way for it to happen, right? God’s will isn’t impossible to comprehend and unattainable. That means that somehow, it’s possible for us to be thankful in the midst of everything.
Understanding how to develop an attitude of gratitude is one of the keys to unlocking God’s will for your life. The Bible offers plenty of tips for cultivating gratitude in your life, and when we embrace those verses, the Holy Spirit begins to do an incredible work inside of us.
Thanksgiving is a Sign of Peace
Colossians 3:15 (TPT)
Let your heart always be guided by the peace of the Anointed One, who called you to peace as part of his one body. And always be thankful.
When our hearts are guided by the peace of the Anointed One, we are able to take a different approach to the trials and tribulations that come along in life. It’s important to understand that having the peace of God doesn’t preclude us from experiencing the pain, fear and uncertainty that comes with problems. In fact, being guided by peace doesn’t mean there still won’t be bad days. But, when we’re guided by the peace of God, our minds are automatically tilted towards gratitude.
“Always be thankful.” Did Paul not understand how difficult that would be when he wrote that verse? He probably did. Afterall, Paul endured beatings, false imprisonments, shipwrecks, snakebites, stonings and a host of other persecutions that would have caused most of us to throw up the white flag and quit. Paul undoubtedly knew how hard it was to “always be thankful,” so how did he pull it off? He was guided by the peace of the Anointed One.
Being guided by peace guides you back to God’s goodness. Being guided by peace guides you back to God’s promises in your life. Being guided by peace guides us back to God. When we find ourselves back in God’s presence, thanksgiving is the only natural reaction. Even in the midst of brokenness, we can be thankful with the knowledge that we are His and He is ours.
The Power of Perspective
Colossians 3:2 (TPT)
Yes, feast on all the treasures of the heavenly realm and fill your thoughts with heavenly realities, and not with the distractions of the natural realm.
In James 1:17, we read that “every good gift is from God above.” The key to cultivating gratitude in your life is to focus on those good gifts. What is a gift, anyway? A gift is something that you didn’t earn and may not even necessarily deserve. A gift is something given by someone who cares about you and wants to see the look on your face when you receive it. Every good thing in your life is a gift from your Heavenly Father. There’s nothing that you’ve done to deserve it, but He longs to see your smile.
If you’ve ever received a gift from someone at Christmas or a birthday party, you probably smiled and said “thank you” no matter how little you liked it. Maybe you have that one aunt who continues to buy you ugly sweaters. Perhaps you still wear that hideous tie that your kids got you for Father’s Day because it was a gift. You don’t complain about gifts; you express your gratitude for them.
Yet, we complain about the gifts we receive from God. That job that drives you mad and causes all sorts of stress? It’s actually a gift from God. He promised to provide for you, but He never said you wouldn’t have to work 40-plus hours a week. That house that you’re tired of cleaning every weekend is a gift straight from God to provide you and your family a safe place to live. Those kids who know just how to push your buttons are gifts straight from Heaven.
When you shift your perspective and recognize the Source of all of the good things in your life, you begin to view them through the lens of gratitude.
Keep the Main Thing the Main Thing
Luke 10:20 (TPT)
However, your real source of joy isn’t merely that these spirits submit to your authority, but that your names are written in the journals of heaven and that you belong to God’s kingdom. This is the true source of your authority.
Child of God, no matter what comes against you, your name is recorded in God’s journal. Don’t just glance over that statement; take some time to let it really soak in. On the day that you asked Jesus Christ to be your Savior, God wrote your name down on Heaven’s list of VIPs.
When you rest in the promise that God penned down your name and has reserved you a seat in Heaven, thanksgiving is the only reasonable response. Again, this doesn’t mean that there won’t be days of pain and sorrow. Quite the contrary, actually. Jesus promised us that “in this life, we will have trouble,” but that we can be of good cheer because this world has been overcome (John 16:33).
Our promise of victory through Christ Jesus doesn’t imply that we won’t face adversity, but it does promise us that we have something far greater than this world when we enter into eternity. When things come that would steal your joy, take heart in the fact that God has your name penned down in His journals. When there seems to be nothing to be thankful for, rejoice that your soul has been saved and your eternity has been sealed!
There is an old hymn that was written in 1897 by a man named Johnson Oatman Jr. The chorus proclaims, “Count your blessings name them one by one, count your blessings see what God has done, count your blessings name them one by one, count your many blessings see what God has done.”
Gratitude isn’t always easy. In fact, there are some days where it seems completely impossible. But what would happen if we sat down and begin to make a list of the good things in our lives? If we didn’t skip over the things we take for granted and truly wrote down the things that God has blessed us with, we would quickly run out of paper! Our pens would shortly run dry of ink and we would be overwhelmed with the number of items that we had written down.
Maybe you don’t need to take part in such a literal exercise. However, taking some time to focus on the good things that God has given you will allow you to cultivate gratitude in your own life. It may not be the natural response, but it’s the Godly response. God’s will for your life is thanksgiving, and we all want God’s will for our lives, right? Start with being thankful and the rest will fall into place.
A Closing Prayer
God, thank You. Thank You for my friends, my family, my home, my car and even my job. I know that everything I have comes from You. Help me to focus more on those good things and be more thankful. In Christ’s name, Amen!