JUNE 2022

Gratitude

"Thank you"….. is a common expression of gratitude. It could be a grateful acknowledgment of something received by or done for one.

There are so many challenges in the world today. We hear of rumours of wars and actual wars. There are terrorist attacks, kidnapping and religious persecution, where the innocent are caught up in. There are terrible weather disasters and pandemics like the covid 19 that the world is still recovering from. Sometimes we dwell upon these disasters and arrive at the fact that we have little or nothing to say thanks for, and sometimes we wonder who really, we should be thanking.

To start with, Isaiah 12 v 4-5 advises us to thank Almighty God our Maker. It reads, And on that day you will say, "Give thanks to the Lord, call on His Name. Make known His deeds among the peoples; make them remember that His Name is exalted." Praise the Lord in song, for He has done glorious things; let this be known throughout the earth.

So here, we are being encouraged to thank our God for who He is, and for the glorious things He has done. In other words, we owe our Creator God our thanks. Right from the air that He has put in our nostrils to provide the ability to do life, to the ability to speak, to wake up morning by morning and everything else, we need to give God our thanks.

So having arrived at who to thank, we may be wondering which circumstances warrant our giving thanks, because when we put our minds to it, the negative challenging situations abound.

1 Thessalonians 5 v 16-18 says, " Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

Yes, we read it correctly. We are told to thank God not only in the good circumstances, but in all circumstances, because sometimes thanking God in the challenging ones, could draw us even closer to God. Sometimes we have absolutely no answers, and are bound in disappointment, but you find that as you begin to thank Him, you feel sorrow lifting and clarity coming to the situation. You find that His Peace floods in. This however has to be a deliberate choice to give thanks, because every emotion in our bodies will be calling out for us to have a" pity party". If we can avoid this, and take the Lord's advice to thank Him, we will receive His comfort.

God does so much for us, and we have to decide whether we want to focus on the amazing things or the challenges. What we focus on drives our hearts and determines the outcome. Gratitude helps people feel more positive, improve their health, deal better with adversity and build strong relationships. Our Lord desires that we have a spirit of gratitude because it translates into greater happiness and satisfaction in our lives. We begin to recognise the influence and blessings of God in our lives.

We are advised in a song, count your blessings and name them, one by one. I sometimes advise people to write down things to thank God for. Alternatively, you can start your prayers with thanksgiving. Other times, schedule prayer times, where you only bring your heart of gratitude and make no requests at all.

One of the best things about gratitude is that the more you choose it, the easier it gets. The more your response is gratitude, the easier it is for you to notice things to be grateful for. So, it's important to be thankful for the little things and the big things, the difficult times, and the happy times, the ups and the downs. The gratitude muscle responds to exercise. As we become more grateful to God, we find we are more appreciative of what people around us do for us.

Colossians 2 v 6-7 says "so then, just as you have received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in Him, rooted and built up in Him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness". This gratitude really is a basic Christian virtue to be cultivated in our walk with the Lord. Before we gave our life to Christ, we were complainants and grumblers. Having received Christ Jesus, we ought to let go of the former things and spill over with gratitude to God Almighty.

The whole Bible really encourages us to have thankful hearts. We see that David modelled this type of heart and wrote many Psalms that overflowed with gratitude in His Heart. Paul also taught about having a heart overflowing with gratitude. Jesus also modelled thankfulness to His Father. He even thanked Him on our behalf, even though He knew He was the Passover Lamb.

Gratitude glorifies God. It causes others to give Him praise which is awesome. It also means we are acknowledging Him, our Lord, not so much the gift. It also helps us to love on God, and acknowledge Him and His will and desire for our lives. Finally it draws and hides our hearts in His Heart.

Let us ask Our Heavenly Father to help us as we go into the second half of this year, to cultivate hearts really overflowing with gratitude.

God Bless You,

Mina Bajomo