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“Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow”.
James 1:17
Thanksgiving week means churches and ministries, including Trexo, will send out annual messages about the importance of gratitude. You will ingest them and boldly think, “Yes, gratitude is important. I should be more grateful.” You may even make a list of things for which you are grateful. And then you, like me, will move onto many other things until…next year.
And repeat.
Haha…
What is that?
The gratitude spin cycle?
In a contest between maintaining a robust “attitude of gratitude” and accomplishing New Year’s resolutions, which is flimsier?
Haha…I like to laugh at myself.
Why is gratitude, truly being thankful, such a real and pervasive challenge? After all, gratitude feels great. It does wonders for one’s internal weather. Being thankful can make one full of joy. Are there any downsides to being grateful? Then why are we so bad at it? Check these options for reasons possible reasons why…
- Fear – We live in daily fear that this is the day we will run out of x. This is the day that everything falls apart. We fear losing our position in our jobs. We fear not having enough. We fear not being good enough. We fear not keeping up. We fear losing love. I don’t have time to be grateful because I am too busy trying to work to stay ahead of my fear. (Matthew 6:25-33)
- Jealousy – What we have is nothing compared to what others have. I have to run to keep up. I must run to stay ahead. Or I’ve quit because I can’t keep up. Or, I run honestly and the dishonest have better and nicer than I have. Jealousy is a sick criminal that can rob us of the joy of gratitude. (James 4:1-10)
- Perfection – Is anything you do ever good enough? Couldn’t you have always done better? A 7 is not a 7, it is 3 short of 10. Who wants to be thankful for a 7? Are you going to give me a participation trophy next? If 50 show up, why wasn’t it 60? If you lost 5 pounds, why didn’t you lose 10? Etc. Etc. Etc. Grace is for those who can’t excel! Perfection can be a powerful enemy against gratitude. (Hebrews 11 as a reminder of ALL the mistakes those listed made in their super impressive list of faith accomplishments.)
- Pride – Why be thankful for what I deserve? Why be thankful for what I have worked hard to attain? (Read Deuteronomy 8, the whole chapter.)
- Laziness – Being thankful takes energy and I’m just lazy. I don’t even do what should be on a to-do list that I still have not made. (Proverbs 13:4)
- Doubt or Unbelief – Yikes. How much has “God” actually been involved in what you have or don’t have? Sure, you believe in Him to some degree or in some places of your life. But do you believe that He is influencing/causing/engaged in providing for what you have? And, how, exactly, does that work? And if He is involved in helping me attain the good, where is He in stopping all this bad? It is easier not to think about all this than to try and figure it out. (Exodus 16:1-21).
- Satan – I have to mention him. Just know that whatever God our Father has given us that most directly impacts experiencing Jesus’s abundant LIFE is where you’ll find Satan. And gratitude can change one’s perspective, fill one with joy, open one’s eyes to the Holy Spirit, and many other Kingdom treasures. OF COURSE Satan is going to make gratitude more slippery. (John 10:10)
How do these options map onto your experience? Ask others about the healthiness of their gratitude. Notice how common the struggle is to be grateful.
Paul trains his disciples in Colossians 4:2, “Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving…”
One thing I have learned about effective prayer that has begun to shift the frequency of my gratitude is to pray with greater specificity as needs arise. For example, I am about to type an important email to a client. I pray. I ask the Holy Spirit to craft the email. Or, I am having a down day internally. Grey clouds in my internal weather. Blech. I pray and ask the Holy Spirit to push back the specific issues generating my grey clouds. Or, I am ordering my day in the morning. I ask the Holy Spirit to prioritize my schedule.
In every instance He moves. He clarifies. He gives words. He assures. He works. Then I give instant gratitude. “Thank You, Father, for the words/breakthrough/direction.” Or it may be a simple, “Thank You for assuring me that You are with me.”
Then, in the morning, I recall the Kingdom victories from the day before. Home runs do not happen every day. Most days singles do. Although somedays the win is just getting dressed! Nevertheless, as I pray specifically as needs arise, my gratitude increases.
May the Holy Spirit help you identify the issues you have keeping you from deeper gratitude. And may you enjoy the fountain of life you will experience by just learning to celebrate the daily wins our Father works in you through Jesus, the gift of all gifts!
LIFE in the Overflow produces a quality and quantity of fruit for which you will never be able to take credit! May you enjoy a rich holiday season with those you love and those who love you!
I grew up with a mentality of: “I will be happy at some point in the future when the following list of things occurs.” The list contained desires for relationships, job success, achievements, possessions, etc. The problem was even as some of those desires were satisfied, new ones appeared and were placed on the list and there was always a list of unmet desires.
One day, God spoke to me and said, “I want you to want what you already have!”. This was a turning point in my life. I stated practicing gratitude on a daily basis. And progressive transformation toward a life filled with gratitude continues to this day.
Author
Great word! Amazing that we can actually hear our Father speak…and His words, even when correcting, are very LIFE giving. And so bizarre how challenging something as daily gratitude can be. Thank you for sharing, Waters!