Isn’t it fortunate that before all the getting we have the gratitude?
Thanksgiving before the gifts.
Gratitude guides our perspective and informs our view of the world.
It elevates our vision and allows for greater joy to enter in.
In Deuteronomy 1:27, a telling statement by the rescued Israelites demonstrates their distorted view of God and His purposes in their lives: “And ye murmured in your tents, and said, Because the Lord hated us, he hath brought us forth out of the land of Egypt, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us.”
Somehow in their wanderings and challenges, they forgot that the Lord had saved them, freed them, from bondage and slavery; had taken them from their powerless and abused state, and offered them a life of fullness.
Without hearts of gratitude for what they had been given, they misinterpreted both the Giver and the blessings available to them, seeing hate where love abounded, and despair where hope and deliverance and joy were provided.
Gratitude allows us to see more clearly what is present and what is true, even in difficult circumstances.
It doesn’t require that we ignore what is hard or unfair or heavy.
It simply invites us to also see what is good and fortifying and merciful, at the same time.
In that way, it allows the Lord to lift some of the burden and bring comfort and peace.
It allows Him to show us His goodness at all times and to demonstrate His presence in our lives.
It opens space for light and joy to enter into our hearts.
Gratitude actually is a gift.
As we practice it, we exercise our agency to invite all of the other good gifts of Heaven into our lives.
And like the best gifts, it continues to give, bringing us delight and wonder anew each time we choose to use it.
