Gratitude Changes Everything

I have never thanked God for my skin. That revelation came crashing into my mind at 4:40 am as I was getting out of bed to catch an early morning flight. You see, the day before, I broke out in horrible, large, itchy hives. I’ve never had hives before so this was very confusing. I couldn’t think of anything I had eaten or done that was out of the ordinary but clearly something was off! The hives were on the back of my arms, under my arms and down both sides of my torso. Overnight the bumpiness went away but I was left with a red, swollen and itchy body.

Having never experienced this before, I suddenly realized how grateful I am for normal skin. The blessing of normalcy had escaped my notice. It wasn’t until something was wrong that I realized how thankful I should be!

Gratitude. It is such a simple but powerful quality. Being thankful changes everything. When I am grateful, I am not complaining. When I am grateful, I am not looking at myself but at God, the One I am grateful to. When I am grateful, God is changing my heart to be more like His.

When we moved to Orlando, I started having trouble sleeping. I tried all kinds of different things. One night, as I was trying to get to sleep, I started thanking the Lord for everything that had happened during that day. Before I knew it, my body relaxed, and I was falling asleep! Realizing that gratitude calmed my mind and body enough to cause me to fall asleep, thanking God every night has become a regular practice! I’m experiencing gratitude leading me to peace. For a girl whose nickname in high school was “Frantic”, peace is a needed quality!

• Give thanks to the Lord; call upon his name; make known his deeds among the people. Psalm 105:1

• Thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man. Psalm 107:8

• Whatever you do whether in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Colossians 3:17

• Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good: his steadfast love endures forever! 1Chronicles 16:34

Notice in these verses, the Lord is commanding us to be thankful.  Why would He do that?  Is it because He needs our thanks? God is self contained and needs nothing from us. He commands us to be thankful because like all of His commands, it’s what is best for us!  Not only does gratitude bring peace, it also draws us close to God. As I am thanking Him, I am abiding in Him. My thankfulness causes me to look up to Him instead of the brokenness in and around me.  As I am continually grateful, my eyes are opened to the kindness and good care I receive daily from the hand of my Good Father. Gratitude helps me see His involvement and generosity and that brings so much joy!

So how do we become grateful people? Gratitude is a simple choice. You can start with what is already in your life. Count the mundane wins. When you take a shower, thank God for the hot water He has given you. When you are driving in your car, thank the Lord that your car started this morning and for whatever weather you are experiencing that day. It is all from His hand. Let your senses help you. Are you tasting something good? Thank God both for the food and for the sense of taste He has given you. When you see and feel the sun or a comfortable chair, thank the Lord. Our Creator gave us senses to help us see Him and His good gifts  all around us.

When we begin to realize that everything we have is all of grace, we become grateful people. The gospel reveals that everything we have-salvation, breath, relationships, abilities- is an undeserved gift. When we truly grasp that we deserve nothing but have been given everything, gratitude becomes our natural response. Christ has secured our ultimate acceptance with God not my performance or lack thereof. While we were enemies of God, Christ died for us. This unmerited love is the foundation of all our thanksgiving.