Gratitude Precedes the Miracle

A heart that is full of gratitude is open to the gift of life all around it.  Gratitude makes for a happy countenance and a joyful heart. 

I have two books that have ministered to me over the last several years and have taught me about the power of thanksgiving.  I know I have mentioned One Thousand Gifts and Jesus Calling before, but today, this Thanksgiving, I am especially grateful for all they have taught me.

Counting blessings, being grateful, giving thanks has transformed my life.  It has helped me to focus on the good all around me, in nature, in people, in circumstances, in myself.  It takes my eyes off my troubles or the pain around me.  It allows me to trust in God’s goodness and love, which is His very nature.  It does not deny that there is evil or sadness, death or pain.  It simply allows me to look beyond these to remember that God, like the sun, is always just behind the darkest cloud.  God does not create or desire the pain or evil, but He will use it for our greatest good, if we will let Him.

Even if I can’t thank Him for a difficult situation, I can still count blessings elsewhere. In One Thousand Gifts, Ann Voskamp writes,

“I only deepen the wound of the world when I neglect to give thanks for early light dappled through leaves and the heavy perfume of wild roses in early July and the song of crickets on humid nights … Why would the world need more anger, more outrage?  How does it save the world to reject unabashed joy when it is joy that saves us?” (page 58)

As a Christian, thanksgiving is something that God asks of us.  Philippians 4:4 “Rejoice in the Lord always.  I say it again, rejoice.” 

Before many of his miracles in the Gospels, Jesus gave thanks.  Before he fed the 5,000, before he raised Lazarus from the dead, and before he was to die on the cross, at the last supper, he gave thanks.  Even Jesus knew the power of thanksgiving, of eucharisteo. If it was important for Him to give thanks, wouldn’t it be even more important for me? 

In Jesus Calling, Sarah Young writes (as if Jesus were speaking), “Thankfulness opens your heart to My Presence and your mind to My Thoughts.  You may still be in the same place, with the same set of circumstances, but it is as if a light has been switched on, enabling you to see from My perspective.” (page 343)

“A life of praise and thanksgiving becomes a life filled with miracles.” (page 346)

As we move into our preparations for Christmas and prepare to sing “Joy to the World”, let’s prepare our hearts by recording each day the blessings around us; a child’s laughter, the beauty of snow, a lesson in patience, a card from a friend.  When we create a grateful heart, there really will be joy in the world.