Rooted in Gratitude

A few weeks ago, I was at a meeting and was struck by some words from the person leading us in the closing prayer.  We were sitting outside and she prayed, “Lord, thank you for these mosquitoes, because being able to feel these bites means that we’re alive.”  Wow- what a powerful perspective. She took something annoying and inconvenient and turned it into something to be seen as a blessing.  Gratitude is everything and we must challenge ourselves each day to look beyond the struggles and crosses to see all of the blessings in our lives and the goodness of God.

When our prayer lives and really just our whole attitudes are ones of gratitude, we are able to see the world around us in a different light.  When we live lives that are rooted in gratitude, our faith grows deeper.  God loves us and wants only what is best for us.  Everything he gives us and all that happens is for our good, whether we can see it or not.

If we truly believe that God loves us and is always working in our lives, we will respond by living with hearts that are filled with gratitude.  We will find joy in the small things, count our blessings, and acknowledge that all that is good in our lives is a gift from God.

Living with gratitude does not mean that we will not suffer or have struggles and difficulties.  However, it does mean that we can go through these times with a different perspective- a deep awareness and trust that God is always walking with us.  When our hearts are filled with gratitude, we are able to see times of suffering and hardship as an opportunity to be drawn closer to the Lord.

The most joy-filled people I know are those who are always grateful.  Living with gratitude helps us to cultivate other good fruits in our lives such as generosity, humility, patience, peace, and more.  It helps us to turn our focus away from ourselves and towards God.  When we have a grateful disposition, we expand our capacity to love both God and others because we are able to better recognize the blessings that they are.  We are able to receive the people in our lives and the experiences we have as a true gift.
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My prayer is that God would fill our hearts until they are overflowing with gratitude and help us to thank Him always.  We are alive today and that is reason enough to praise Him.