Reading scriptures like 1 Thessalonians 5:18 that tell us
to “give thanks in all circumstances” is at
When trying times come, saying thank you to anyone let alone God
can become hard to say. And if we are
honest, for some of us, life has had its toll on us! For others, things just
aren’t quite where we would like to be and we are wondering when the
breakthrough will take place. And others of us say thank you out of habit. But
there’s no root or sincerity backing our thank you. It’s just a religious practice.
We say thank you as a protocol, just because, or we know that in doing so we
will be blessed or somehow set a part; however, in reality you’re no better off
than the person who struggles to say thank you.
The bottom line is that our country, the United States of
America, struggles with gratitude. Well,
let me present it this way. One study found this: “Americans are
very grateful and they think gratitude is important—they’re just not very good
at expressing it.” The study went on to say that women are more grateful
than men, that most people thought that gratitude in our nation was declining,
that associating oneself with religion birthed more gratefulness, married
people were more grateful than single people and that 18-24 year olds express gratitude
the least of all.
Here’s what’s happening.
We admittedly as people
measure gratefulness by what we have. The single person reportedly being not as
grateful as a married person or the thought that 18-24 year olds are ungrateful comes from
a tangible place when our “inner gratefulness meter” which measures how
grateful we are or are not can’t be based upon anything we have including the
people in our lives.
A dear friend and mentor, Dr. Thomas Muhomba, once mentioned this very thing. We had a long conversation,
almost debate about the blessings of God. The conversation was around what the
definition of a blessing is. I began to
list examples i.e. someone blessing you with money or a car or healing, etc.
And it was then that Dr. Muhomba told this story. He said: "one time, my wife and
I were scheduled to go to back home to Africa and it was important that we get
there. God knew that we needed to get there.
After weeks of waiting, one day, we came home to thousands of dollars
sitting at our door in an envelope. And it was at that time that I thanked God
for being God. Because when I’m in Him, certain things
are already promised to me. And He promised to take care of me.”
God has promised to take
care of you. So even in your worst seasons, God is still caring for you. How do
I know? Because you and I are still here! It didn’t kill you, it built you. And
if you’re in something now, where the burden is too great to bear, transfer the
weight to the one who can carry it. His yoke is easy and His burden is light.
My
husband and I made a transfer. And towards the end of the seemingly three long
months of sleeping on the floor, we cried out to the Lord. We cried out with a
resounding voice in gratefulness. Lord thank you for keeping me! Thank you for
keeping our children! Thank you for opening doors! Thank you that we’ve had
food to eat! Thank you for family providing a place for us to lay our heads and
help us transition! Thank you for my marriage! Thank you for laughter! Thank
you for being God! Because we deserve nothing! But you deserve everything!
Now, you begin to open up
your mouth and thank and praise God that you’re still here; for His keeping
power! Thank Him for the little things! Thank Him for the one bedroom floor
that you’re sleeping on! Thank Him for your family! Because even at your worst,
God is still taking care of you. Whether you're on the mountain top or the valley low, your praise should remain constant because it's not conditioned upon anything tangible. It’s more than “thank you”. Gratefulness
assumes the posture of being indebted and obligated to the one who is sure to
fulfill His promises!
