The Act of Gratitude
by Emily Randall | Nov 15, 2016
Song Recommendation: Amanda Cook – Wonder
Seeing God in All things
I used to be a pretty negative person, constantly stressed and looking at the bad parts of life. Being hyper aware of my thoughts, I would constantly seek a way to pull myself out of this cycle and into thankfulness. I tried, yoga, self-help books, eating healthy, exercising, meditation, and all other forms of weird things that society throws at us to achieve this level of “positive thinking” but nothing worked. Or maybe it did, but it would be short lasted, then on to the next thing. This was Emily out of Christ – I was lost, always seeking but never finding. Until I sought Christ, then boy did things change!
“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” Matthew 7:7
So what was the difference? Why did focusing my attention towards God actually give me an attitude of gratitude to ALL things?
I guess for starts it’s definitely seasons. God had and has me in this precious season of recognizing him in ALL things, which in turn allows me to be thankful for all things! He has transformed my heart to break for the things that Jesus’s heart broke for which is SUPER RAD.
“Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” 1 Thessalonians 5:18
What does that exactly mean, recognizing God in all things?
Well as a follower of Christ, I feel that it is my duty to be thankful to God for literally EVERYTHING. Without him, how would I even be breathing? Duty sounds harsh, like we owe something to this guy. Well yeah actually we do. We owe our whole selves to Him but most of us our scared to do that or submit to that. We are scared to let go of control and hand everything over to God who wants to solve all of our problems for us! How cool is that. He loves us so much that he doesn’t want us to stress or doubt things because …
“We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28
So again what does this look like? Or what does it look like in my life?
I think you really have to put your life into perspective. You are SO BLESSED; the fact that you are even reading this is a blessing. If you think about it… you have functioning eyes to read, you have a healthy brain to process these words, you have had an education to understand them, and you have a computer or phone to read them…I can go on and on but that is just ONE small act of recognizing the blessings in your life. So stop complaining…
For me it first started with food. I used to get mad at myself for not thanking God for my meals. I felt selfish! There are people STARVING in other countries and here I am shoving my face. Then there was water that was a BIG ONE. Not just the fact that we can get clean water anywhere and not have to worry about diseases but we can take showers and baths without any concern, talk about gratitude. I remember crying one night because I was so thankful for fresh water after a camping trip. Haha dramatic I know. This was for a season, and then God moved onto the next thing. Seeing him in other things, all things, like the hard things…
SEEING HIM THROUGH THE DIFFICULTIES
This is the season I am in now and it’s WONDERFUL, but hard at the same time. If we think about Romans 8:28, “we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Basically, we have to recognize God in the difficult times too and actually give him praise for our difficulties. Okay, now you’re probably thinking I’m crazy.
How do you give thanks to God during the hard times?
Well to start you must recognize that our world’s standards for difficult situations are completely different then Gods standards for difficult situations. Let me put this into perspective…
So lets say you get fired or you go through heartbreak. In the moment, you’re probably really mad and confused, why would God do this to me! ME!! Doesn’t he love me; I’ve been so faithful. That’s how we see it, we blame God as we go through series of disappointments and the world allows this! It allows us to mourn and be to upset and coddle ourselves through the “difficult times” but what if we had a different perspective on these difficult times? WHAT IF we actually gave God thanks through even the difficult times because WE KNOW that all things good things work together for those who love him.
Now this is pure gratitude.
Once we recognize that even through the BAD or what we consider bad God still loves us, he hasn’t left us and he is still working on our behalf even though we might not see it in the moment. I am even thankful for traffic! Because in my head I’m like its cool maybe God is protecting me from something or maybe he wants more time for me to be in my car and listen to a podcast or something. He is always working for our good so stop looking at the bad and look to God, which equals good. Thank him for traffic or for having a a bad day because through those difficult times he is working his hardest for you. Keep thanking him, and he will continue to provide.
For me I am in a season of waiting and its really hard. But! I have hope and faith that he will provide exactly what is needed in due time and I am learning to thank God for giving me the endurance and patience to wait during the difficult season.
TRUST HIM THROUGH THE TRIALS
I know we all hear those stories of people who get their hearts broken then God puts them with the most amazing individual, or you get fired then God makes a path for an even better road. WE MUST TRUST HIM THROUGH THE TRIALS.
I mean you can go ahead and sulk, God is still going to provide, but what’s the point of sulking and wasting time when everything is going to work out exactly the way that it is supposed to.
So dust yourself off, hey you’re still alive so I guess he’s not done with you. Be positive and THANKFUL for the fact that you are still breathing. This life is way to short to be anything but this.