Giving Thanks

Gratitude has the power to transform our attitude and outlook on life. Gratitude is like a person traveling to their destination guided by GPS. To the contrary, the ungrateful struggles to reach his destination, making wrong turns, backtracking, and turning on one-way streets the wrong way. Most of all, he does not enjoy the journey, yelling at those in his way and blaming everyone but himself for his frustrating trip. Gratitude is like a power transformer, converting the powerful electrical current into usable electricity your house needs. Gratitude takes everything that comes at us and makes sense of it.

Have you noticed how being upset about something can change your whole day, while being thankful can make it better? For example, you find yourself anxious about a problem at work, waiting for it to get your attention. The more you think about it, the more nervous and irritated you become. Conversely, suppose you begin your day thinking about how fortunate you are to have your job. It’s a stable job that provides you with a good income despite the challenges that come along. Just thinking about what you have, rather than what you do not have, changes your mood. You are a very different person when you arrive at your workplace. Gratitude actually changes the way we think, act, and even look. It can even put a smile on your face. Gratitude gives a person a sense of purpose and adds meaning to their life.

This is a favorite holiday for many of us because it is a time to get together with family and relax. Even more, it is a time to reflect on the things we have to be thankful for. Life has a way of keeping us occupied, leaving us with very little time to reflect on our many blessings. Modern-day marketing focuses on what we do not have, thus making us incomplete until we buy what they promise will complete us. It is a strategy that has made billions for businesses but has left the consumer feeling very empty. The truth is that our contentment is not found in this world. It is found in our Creator. The more we know him, love him, and serve him, the more content we find ourselves.

 

When Life Doesn’t Make Sense

When life doesn’t make sense, we often make foolish and rash decisions. It is in this moment that we begin to doubt what we have always believed. We doubt our worth, our beliefs, our faith in God, and, most detrimental to our well-being, we doubt God’s love for us. We doubt that God is there working in ways that we cannot see. We always believed, but now we doubt. Why not doubt? Things are not adding up. Things are not working out. We are facing dead ends, and we have difficulty finding our way.

However, it is precisely in these moments that we need to trust God--in the very moments when he seems faraway. When he appears to be ignoring our prayers--in these times, we walk by faith and not by sight.

The Old Testament prophet Habakkuk also had questions: Does He really love us? Does he care what happens to us? Is he there? Does He answer prayer, especially our prayers? How can He be holy and tolerate such sin in the world, and especially in his own people? If He is a God of justice, why doesn’t He punish sinners? (Habakkuk 1:1-3).

Habakkuk questioned God’s methods. They certainly made no sense to him. They seemed to conflict with what he knew about God. He asked God, “Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; you cannot tolerate wrong. Why then do you tolerate the treacherous? Why are you silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves? (Habakkuk 1:13-14). Habakkuk had the same problem we do. He did not understand God, nor did he comprehend what he was doing. It certainly wasn’t the way he would have done things.

Habakkuk, though he did not understand God’s ways, decided to wait for an answer from God. God did answer, “Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it. For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay (Habakkuk 2:2-3). This was not what Habakkuk was expecting, but it was an answer. In fact, it was what we are all supposed to do when we are confused or disappointed. We are to wait for God—He will speak. This is faith, and this is what faith does—it waits for God.

Habakkuk tells us the secret of living for God, “but the righteous will live by his faith—“. This phrase inspired the Apostle Paul, who referred to it in his letter to the Romans.  It is the way we live for God day by day.