It’s Thanksgiving break and as believers in God’s Promises, we have much to be thankful for - even more than the average person. But we struggle as much as everyone else when it comes to letting that thankfulness bleed into our lives and shaping them to have a more positive outlook.
When life kicks up into fifth gear, I find I have little time for anything but the essentials: school, Memorial Service, CYC, piano lessons, sleep, and food. My focus goes towards making it through the day - checking off the mandatory boxes - and moving on. I struggle to see an hour in front of or behind me, let alone remember and be thankful the events of that day.
But how can I - how can we - change this unintentional thanklessness in us? God does so much for us each and, surely it cannot be too hard to find one thing each day that He has done for us?
And it’s not. Not really. To come up with a single blessing God has given us everyday is not a challenge at all.
So why don’t we do it? Why aren’t we as thankful as we used to be?
I remember it used to be so easy. Mom and Dad used to come in to say nightly prayers, and we would say one ‘please’ and one ‘thank you’. I remember there used to be so much to be thankful for when I was little: the sun for shining, the rain for give the flowers a drink, and for bringing Momma and Daddy safely home from work. My sister and I found that we couldn’t only say one Thank-You, sometimes there’d be a whole list of little things that we appreciated throughout the day.
So what changed? When did we stop being thankful for the little things? When did a sunny day become so unappreciated? Or when did the fact that Mom and Dad got home safe in that snowstorm become an assumed event?
God is in the little things: the green lights when you’re running late, the text of encouragement when you’ve hit rock bottom, an easier test when you feel you may fail, and the extended due dates after a busy night. Be thankful for the little things - write them down and put them in a box. Pull one out when you’re feeling down.
That’s not to say that God isn’t also in the large things - in the accepted college application, the new job, or the finalized down payment of your next house - but we tend to associate these successes with God. We remember Him when He helps us with the events that more obviously shape our lives, but it is the little things that remind us to be thankful each and every day.
“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation…” James 1:17
In the Hope of Israel,
Mikaelah B
"For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness." Psalms 84:10
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