Game-Changing Gratitude
“That voice calls us anew to know with heart and mind that all that is, is given to us as a gift of love, a gift that calls us to make our life into an unceasing act of gratitude.” (Henri Nouwen)
“Satan loves to fish in the troubled waters of a discontented heart.” (Thomas Watson)
Gratitude is a game changer. It eradicates all that shrivels our souls and nurtures all that is life-giving.
I wish I could tell you we learned the deep lessons of gratitude that day in September when Hurricane Ian made landfall. But because landfall was 300 miles south of us, only surface gratitude was present then. Of course, we were so very glad that the trauma of a flooded home and shattered community bypassed us. But gratitude didn’t soak deep into our bones when we had sunshine and balmy breezes. It wasn’t until the eyewall of other forms of destruction hit us head-on that true gratitude became part of our treasured support system. And I can promise you that we really needed to learn the survival skill of gratitude.
I hope you will pause a minute and think with me about the complex ramifications of life with gratitude — and without it.
It comes down to trust.
Trust is at the core of gratitude. When we trust God to give us what is best, we aren’t torn with a yearning for what we do not have. Gratitude is unencumbered by longing for what God is withholding. Gratitude means we are wrapped in peace, hope, and anticipation.
If every good gift comes from above, then gratitude acknowledges God’s loving movements throughout my days. Gratitude expresses wonder that the same Creator and Sustainer who names and holds every star in every galaxy is also aware and active in every detail of my life. Gratitude realigns me with the Giver of every good gift as I accept and celebrate God’s movements in and around me. This alignment means that the Fruit of the Spirit unavoidably flows over and through my life.
And, best of all, gratitude draws me deeper into God’s presence. I am trusting and resting and open-hearted. I am close to God when gratitude fills me rather than being isolated by willful, selfish thanklessness.
Trusting God as the all-wise, all-powerful Gift Giver changes everything.
Gratitude has far-reaching benefits.
Gratitude…
Eradicates all that withers the abundant life. Gratitude cannot coexist with discontentment, regret, fear, despair, bitterness, resentment, impatience, and unbelief. Think about how different life would be without those debilitating elements. Gratitude is the gateway to the abundant life. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. (John 10:10)
Acknowledges God’s generosity toward me and frees me to be generous to others. I live out of a perspective of plenty rather than scarcity. He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? (Romans 8:32)
Counter-balances loss. When our focus is on what we now have in our hands, we don’t dwell on what we don’t have. So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. (II Corinthians 4:16-18)
Overcomes the self-life. It is the antithesis of selfishness, superiority, pride, self-pity, greed, and power plays. Either gratitude will overshadow those horrors, or it will be overshadowed by them. By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. (I John 3:16)
Dilutes the inevitable HARD. It reinforces the value we place on what is joyful in the present and brings a balanced perspective — despite the HARD found in our broken world. I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. (John 16:33)
Introduces us to truly enjoying reality. It displaces the “what if” mirage of what might not ever come to be in the future and overcomes the “if only” of what can’t be changed in the past. Gratitude diverts me around the potholes of the dreaded fantasy future and frees me from the bondage of regret. Gratitude anchors us to what really is. So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.(Matthew 6:34)
Gratitude in the HARD
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not proclaiming that walking in gratitude is always easy.
Sometimes gratitude is of the hammock variety. It is within easy reach because the only thing lacking is another ice cube in the lemonade as we lounge in the shade. But other times, when real life is like running on an uphill treadmill — in a sauna — with LEGOs in your shoes, living out gratitude is more of an extreme workout.
We’ve had a year of radical gratitude workouts - rigorous training exercises to test the endurance of our trust. Job loss, deadly health crises, financial disruption, death of a parent, family relationship challenges, and ministry drama. It comes in wave after wave. We’ve learned not only is gratitude possible in the middle of HARD, but it is also vitally necessary. It is life-giving and lifesaving.
Gratitude: a work of the Spirit
But gratitude of the enduring variety cannot be self-manufactured. Enduring gratitude is only possible when the Spirit of God does the work of transformation. Only the Spirit of God can change my heart so that I can be shaped for God’s Kingdom purposes and turn away from all that can smother gratitude.
Only as the Holy Spirit works will…
I stop being oblivious and become aware of God’s good gifts,
my entitlement become a humble acceptance of God’s choices for me,
I cease being self-focused and become God-focused,
my self-promotion become cruciform, with me decreasing and Christ increasing, and
my autonomous self-rule be yielded to God who alone deserves the honor and glory.
Pursue gratitude
So, for my own wellbeing, I need to ask God to help me identify the factors that dilute my gratitude. And, on the other hand, I need to ask the Holy Spirit to bring me toward habits of gratitude even as I contribute to my own health by pursuing habits of gratitude.
What about you? How might you move toward God’s invitation to be grateful?
Deliberately take time at the end of your day to focus on God’s generosity.
Intentionally make Sabbath space throughout your day for resting in God’s goodness.
Ask God to make you aware of the little things that evidence God’s care.
Invite your family to have a gratitude chalkboard that you try to fill up every week or give each family member individual notebooks and challenge everyone to record 10 gifts from God every day.
Surround yourself with sounds of gratitude like listening to music of praise or asking friends, “Tell me how you are seeing God’s love in your days.”
Regularly assess how well you are nurturing your sense of wellbeing by pursuing gratitude.
An abundant life is possible, and gratitude is the game changer.