Are You Grateful?

Verses
1Th5:16
Be joyful always: pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

Devotion
With all that is going on now with the social distancing and constant news about the virus, the last thing you may feel is grateful. All of us are experiencing some fear about this illness invading our family or affecting our friends. Many of us also feel isolated from others with the stay at home order or feel that we have had to give us many of the joys of life like going out to dinner with friends. So what is there to be grateful for?

All throughout the Bible, we are told to be thankful. Co 3:15 tells us to “be thankful”. In Co 4:2, we are to be thankful in prayer. Ps 95:2 says “Let us come before Him with thanksgiving”. The most challenging verse is 1Th 5:16 which tells us to “give thanks in all circumstances”. How do you do that? The early Christians were wondering that too since they were facing persecution and death for their faith. Can we find a way to be grateful even in our current circumstances?

Recently I have decided to be more consistent and intentional about filling my life with good habits like exercise, sleep and reading the Bible. These are all things I want to do but often let the busyness of life take from me. In addition to these activities, I decided to start a gratitude journal. At the end of the day, I consider all that has happened and focus on one thing that I am grateful for. The list is getting long. Family, friends, a warm home, my cat, enough food (don’t tell Christian but I have eaten some boxed food back from 2015), are all on the list. When I do this, I feel better, lighter, happier. (Turns out recent science actually supports this.)

Maybe this isn’t for you. Maybe you gain perspective from a walk outside or by singing along to an uplifting worship song. Or you benefit from listening to a meaningful podcast on the joys of faith. Certainly we can all find gratitude when we spend time in prayer and are able to actually talk with and have a relationship with the God of the universe! And we are all so grateful for what Jesus has done for us, dying for us so that we have freedom from our sins. And rising again to show us that we will have eternity with Him in heaven.

As Christians, we should be the most grateful people on earth. But it does take some intention to shift our focus from the problems around us and instead to see our many blessings. Consider spending 5 minutes each day thinking about your blessings and see what happens. I think you will find that once you begin to spend just a little time each day focusing on what God has given you, you will be more joyful and able to “give thanks in all circumstances”.