I started the Thankful Thursday thing, but guess what? I haven’t posted anything on Thursday for 2 weeks. I hate not being able to keep my word so I’m going to loosen myself from the idea of posting about thankfulness to Thursdays only. It’s Friday today. So what? Let’s just be okay with that. Besides God doesn’t say to be thankful on Thursday anyway. He says to be thankful always.
I have been reading the book “One Thousand Gifts” and the premise of it is that we can learn to live fully in the life God has given us by giving thanks. It’s titled One Thousand Gifts because a friend challenged her to find 1,000 things that are really gifts, in turn naming them back to God and giving thanks for them. I have read it over and over and have turned the idea over and over. I wrestle with the fact that my life isn’t marked by continual thanks- peace and joy aren’t hallmarks that represent my life, an offspring of a life of thanks. Then I wrestle with the fact that I just want to rebel and don’t really want to count 1,000 things. Which in turn means, not that I can’t count to 1,000, but that I don’t want to slow down and find the thanks, the gifts, the grace, in everything and every situation. I don’t want to give God glory.
I decided to dig further in. When I came to my self- ugly conclusion, I really wanted to grasp the idea of thankfulness deeper. I went to biblestudytools.com (Carolyn would be proud) and did a word search. Here’s what I got from Baker’s Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology (I know- wow!)
“Thanksgiving is a motive for Christian life and conduct, a general attitude toward both the blessings and trials of life, a central component of prayer, and the context for the proper use of material things.”
“We retain our joy and peace especially when “in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, [we] present our requests to God.” Phil 4:4-6” (within context)
I opened my devotional this morning and guess what greeted me? This…
“Let thankfulness temper all your thoughts. A thankful mind-set keeps you in touch with Me. I hate it when My children grumble, casually despising My sovereignty. Thankfulness is a safeguard against this deadly sin. Furthermore, a grateful attitude becomes a grid through which you perceive life. Gratitude enables you to see the Light of My Presence shining on all your circumstances. Cultivate a thankful heart, for this glorifies Me and fills you with Joy.”
He has shown me this three times now so I’m thinking He really wants me to get this whole thankfulness thing. He wants me to learn, to practice, to be thankful in the small, in the everything. When you give God his proper place, give Him his sovereignty, His authority over all (and that my friends, is another matter highly worthy of some good wrestling with!), when you come to the place of grace (go- wrestle with grace), you will recognize that the gifts of now are to point to the gifts of forever. Then, as you practice, as I practice thanksgiving, peace and joy, among other things will pour forth.
Now, let’s practice…
Thankfuls
- that faith does not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power (1 Cor. 2:5)
- friendship that loves across the miles into sandy beaches
- for gray days that make us crave for the sunshine
- for a new van
What are you thankful for?
I am thankful for you, your blog, and the lesson you taught me today. Thanks for sharing what God's teaching you, Mindy.
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