Thankful

I had a lot of opportunities to give thanks to God this past weekend.  Some opportunities I missed, but some I took advantage of.  Like when I was sitting in Lifegroup Friday night with my husband, surrounded by people I truly love and respect, talking about Jesus.  What a privilege.

 Or, the many precious moments this past weekend spent with my sweet grand-baby.  The feel of her toes and fingers;  the way my husband, my son and I will all act like crazy idiots just to elicit one delectable grin;  the soft coos she makes when she is content; the chance to have a baby in my arms once more to sing over and rock to sleep.  Oh yes, lots to give thanks for there, and it was easy, so easy, just like breathing.  It felt like I was inhaling God and exhaling praise several times this weekend.

Praise His Name.

But there have been other moments, opportunities that didn’t feel as good, or have as much happiness in them.  Times when the praise was choked up within me because my feelings of entitlement blinded me to the fact that God is ALWAYS worthy of my thanks and my offerings of gratitude.

Let me just say here, entitlement is a lie.  We deserve nothing.  Especially me.  I deserve nothing less than the hottest fire hell has to offer.  So with that in mind I say to you that no one is immune to pain and suffering.  Not even Jesus, and He even told us that as long as we were tethered to this earth, we would know pain. But He also promised us that He came to give us life, and not only life, but abundant life. 

How do we reconcile those two thoughts?  How do we have pain and suffering, and yet live life abundantly?  Was Jesus lying to us?  Was He mistaken?

No. 

Living life abundantly, to its fullest, doesn’t mean we shirk from pain.  It means we face it head on without fear, fully trusting that the God of all creation is working in us, and in every situation...and giving Him thanks and praise for it. 

Does that mean we walk around thanking Him that we have cancer or that we lost our job? 

C.S. Lewis once said that “pain is God’s megaphone.”  So for me, if a painful situation is what it took for God to get me to pay attention to Him, to notice Him, to believe in Him…then yes, I think I should praise Him for it.

As I stated before, God is ALWAYS worthy of praise and gratitude. And there are certain benefits to giving thanks in all things. First, giving thanks gets our eyes off of the problem and places our focus squarely where it ought to be in the first place, on God.  Second, and I don’t know how it works, I just know it does, giving praise and thanks brings joy.  Somehow, when we entrust our pain to him, He gives us “beauty for ashes, strength for fear, and gladness for mourning.”

What are you facing today?  Is it painful? Happy? Mundane? I encourage you to take a moment, close your eyes and just inhale.  Inhale God and all of His mercy.  Remember Him and acknowledge Him.  Exhale praise and thanks…He is worthy.

“For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.” Romans 1:21 (NASB)

I had these thoughts in my heart to write on yesterday, but couldn’t quite get them out.  For a much clearer and well thought out post on gratitude…I encourage you to hop over to Ann Voskamp’s blog and read her thoughts on the subject. You can click here for the link…A Holy Experience. ~ Shayne