All of us have room in our hearts for a little more joy and contentment! Today those qualities can seem like endangered species. Financial difficulties, family problems, national crises and the plight of the world, can keep caring people up at night wondering what to do, or fearing what might come next. Sometimes we ourselves have caused the problems that beset us. We have made poor, or self-serving, decisions, and now don’t know how to deal with the consequences. Other times things happen that are truly out of our control. Even then, God has a plan and spiritual principles that, if we practice them faithfully, will help us through. Gratitude is one of those practices.
Gratitude can be a wily thing, can’t it? For those of us who live the Christian life from the Reformed family, it is the central affirmation of all that we believe and do. Still some days it is hard. It helps to remember that gratitude is indeed a spiritual practice and not just a feeling. It is a muscle that must be exercised. Still, it can be hard to get to the ‘gratitude gym’ when the state of the world seems so grim and overwhelming. Even Mother Earth herself seems to be caught in a wrenching cycle of destruction, floods, fires and earthquakes. God’s children suffer in ways we cannot bear, and we feel overwhelmed with sorrow and confusion as to how to respond. If we add to those global catastrophes our country’s gaping divisions and our own families’ ordinary, but sometimes grueling, challenges, it can be downright difficult to come up with a whole hearted ‘thank you.’
And yet, I am convinced, and the Scriptures attest, that finding and practicing gratitude in all things is a fundamental principle of a life lived with power, peace and contentment. Why? Because gratitude expands while fear and worry contract. Gratitude expands the heart, even if it is gratitude for tiny things like spotting a hummingbird or noticing the loveliness of ‘clean sheet day.’ No matter what is going on with us, God floods each day with beauty and myriad tiny blessings and compensations. Sometimes the big miracles come, too, but they are the special garnish for the vast feast that is daily blessing.
Sometimes gratitude awakens like a small beacon in a storm, sometimes like a great wave of hope, care and trust. Transforming gratitude pours over us when we truly know our need and open ourselves intentionally to the many ways God works to meet it. When we know our need for love we are grateful for the love of family and friends. When we know our need for wisdom, we are grateful for the experience of others and the incomparable gift of Scripture. When we know our need to repent, we are grateful for the act of repentance itself. When we know our need for forgiveness, we are grateful for our God who will do anything to draw us back into loving embrace. When we know our deep need for healing and salvation, we are grateful for our Savior.
October always invites us to notice the harvests of life, to welcome God’s sweet treasures and to ponder how to live truly grateful and generous lives. This month I have prepared a daily devotional for you around the theme of gratitude and generosity. I hope that you will use it to guide your reflecting on your blessings during this harvest time. Open your eyes! Be grateful! Respond!