It’s often easy to feel gratitude when everything’s going our way. There
are times in most peoples’ lives when their careers, relationships, health, and
finances are flourishing. However, the reality is that life does not remain in
an ideal state forever. Unforeseen circumstances crop up because none of us are
given any guarantees. Nature cannot be completely
predicted, and neither can our lives.
We aren’t born with a lifetime bumper-to-bumper warranty. So, we’re on our
own:
- No binding legal documents
- No recourse to sue for millions if circumstances become unfavorable (I wish!)
- No entitlement to achievement. (Again, I wish! We have to work for it.)
- No divine guarantees about how comfortable, or long, our lives will be.
For some people, life rarely achieves perfection in any way, shape, or
form. Every day is a challenge; sometimes a huge challenge. That’s because none of us can control other people,
or nature. In some cases, we cannot even control certain aspects of our mental
and physical health.
How can we be
grateful in the dark places?
Gratitude is always possible if we put our trust in God. The Lord is our shepherd, as stated in Psalm 23. He
is leading us where we need to go, even though we might not see it right now.
He sees the end from the beginning; we don’t. God wants to do something
good IN us, not FOR us.
Some readers may think “Ha! What planet were you born on? That’s a naïve attitude!
Where’s your proof?” Well, my own life is my proof. I have too many examples to
list them all. For instance, I have failed dating relationships and jobs . Let’s
not forget my ongoing health battles.
Thank goodness none of the jobs or relationships worked out, or I wouldn’t
have the family and lifestyle I do today! For one thing, you wouldn’t be
reading this blog post; I probably wouldn’t have expanded into writing.
Looking back, I see that God was always doing something good IN me,
although it didn’t seem to be good FOR me as I was going through it.
Joyce Meyer says that God arranges circumstances in order to force us to
trust Him. I’m a living testimony of that!
Why should we have
gratitude at all times?
- Gratitude is power. We can open the floodgates of divine guidance through it. On the other hand, we can block blessings by complaining. The Israelites of Moses’ time are a perfect case.
- God wants us to be grateful. He knows how potent it is.
- Thankfulness breathes life and light into our lives. Then, we can pass down this positivity, rather than negativity, to our descendants. Gratitude and peace go together, too.
Please
think about it: Negative emotions are not restful. They promote darkness,
including anxiety. I don’t know about you, but that’s the last thing I need!
- Gratitude attracts more of the same--more light and optimism.
My Conclusion
Life is
rarely perfect for most of us. Yet, we always have the choice to call more light or darkness into our lives by our
attitude. Gratitude in every situation puts us in a position of power. It gives
us recourse to light within ourselves and from Heaven. That’s power!
Do you
choose light, or darkness?
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