Choosing Gratitude – Chapter 1 - The Power of Gratitude

I just started a new book called “Choosing Gratitude – Your Journey to Joy”.  It is by Nancy Leigh DeMoss, the same author that wrote “Choosing Forgiveness” the study I did last year.  I am excited to see what God is going to teach me through this study… as I move on from just forgiving to learning to be grateful.  Like I did with “Choosing Forgiveness” I am going to share some of my favorite quotes (in red) and what God is teaching me through them. 

If you find discouragement, depression, fear, or anxiety among your frequent companions, you may tend to attribute them to difficult or painful circumstances that surround you.  But I want to suggest that as challenging as your situation or your season of life may be, your frame of mind likely has less to do with your distressing circumstances than with your need to develop a thankful heart.

** Wow… lately I have been leaning more towards discouragement and complaining… blaming it on how hard life is at the moment and all the trials we are enduring… but God has commanded us to be thankful in all circumstances… Lord, help me to find reasons to be thankful and see you in my life every day..!

There’s a world of difference between being able to say “thank you” – and actually having a thankful heart.

** Anyone can be trained to say thank you… it is when it comes from a heart of thankfulness that it has meaning.  Lord, may I not just say the words “Thank You” but may my heart truly be filled with thanksgiving. 

Try, for example, to sustain persevering faith – without gratitude – and your faith will eventually forget the whole point of its faithfulness, hardening into a practice of religion that’s hollow and ineffective. 

**I don’t desire to just practice religion… I want to live out my faith.  I want to have a relationship with Jesus that is active and alive. 

I have learned that in every circumstance that comes my way, I can choose to respond in one of two ways:  I can whine or I can worship!

** Sometimes it is a choice we have to make… am I going to complain about my circumstances or am I going to worship God who loves me and is in control of all things including my current circumstances. 

The consequences of an ungrateful spirit are not as readily seen as, say, those of a contagious disease.  But they are no less deadly.  Western civilization has fallen prey to an epidemic of ingratitude. Like a poisonous vapor, this subtle sin is polluting our lives, our homes, our churches, and our culture.

** How often do I fall prey into the thinking of entitlement… that I deserve everything that I have… that it is owed me?  We have so much and yet we rarely give thanks.  Lord, open my eyes to this epidemic that has taken place in my own life… Lord, help me to return to a heart of thanks.  Be at work in my life through this study..!

I don’t have to tell you that life hurts. If it’s not one of these few examples I’ve given, it’s a difficult child, a frustrating job, a serious (or perhaps just suspicious) medical issue, an in-law impasse.  It could be a bad credit rating, a sleep problem, a lingering sin habit, maybe something as life-altering as a long, drawn-out divorce. 

Big. Small. Long-term. Everyday.  There are so many things about our individual life experiences that occupy our thoughts, our fears, and add to our worries.

We try everything we can think of to deal with it.  We build our cases against people who cause us the most grief in life.  We seek out the supportive shoulders that are offered to let us air our complaints and annoyances. 

Sometimes we sink into escape patterns, just trying not to think about it.  We pour ourselves into our work I an attempt to avoid dealing with more important things.

But most likely, no matter how we try to cope with difficulty and disappointment, underneath it all is the heart’s cry that keeps so many of us from experiencing God’s best in our situations.  With the promise of God still in force- even in the midst of aching pain and struggle- with His peace and presence still available to those who rely on Him, we too often choose to find our solace in these two plaintive words: “Why me?”

How often have you clung to this tart complain, hoping to draw from it enough strength to protect your heart from further danger and damage?

“Why is life so hard?”

“Why did this happen to me?”

“Why won’t anybody love me for who I am?”

“Why isn’t God answering my prayers?”

“Why do I have to live alone like this?”

“Why doesn’t the Bible work for me like it does for them?”

“Why does this problem never seem to end?”

“Why am I supposed to just accept this?”

“Why me?”

Feeling betrayed.  Feeling left out. Feeling inferior… mistreated… under-appreciated.  Like a whirlpool spinning around in never-ending circles, tugging and draining and pulling us down with every sweep of self-pity, we sink lower and lower into ourselves, into our problems.

Away from God.

Ungrateul.

But true, Christ-centered, grace-motivated gratitude fits everywhere, even in life’s most desperate moments and difficult situations.  Even when there are no “answers,” it gives hope.  It transforms overwhelmed strugglers into triumphant conquerors.

** This last quote is very long… but it was quite challenging in my own life… I pray that it can encourage you if you are enduring difficulties right now and are spinning down into self-pity.  Yes, life is hard… but we can choose whether the trials will consume us and cause us to question God’s goodness or we can draw close to God and find ways to thank him even in the midst of the trials. 

Lord, you know the hurts that I have endured.  You know the pain I am still enduring.  You know my coping habits.  But you also know that only drawing close to you with a grateful heart will bring about the peace I so desire in life.  Help me to focus on you and not my trials.  Help me to have a grateful heart even when life doesn’t make sense.