On being thankful
Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
Thankfulness is such an important practice, but it doesn’t always come very easily, especially when we’re facing hard seasons or challenges in life.
Is it ever really possible to feel grateful for really difficult challenges in our lives? I’m not sure I will ever be persuaded to feel thankful for some of the heartaches I have faced in the past few years such as recurrent miscarriages, cancer affecting family members, or even all of this coronavirus chaos more recently.
Can God seriously expect us to ever be thankful for hardships like these? For what it’s worth, I don’t think so. And I think it’s important to understand that there’s a clear distinction between what it means to give thanks “in” everything rather than “for” everything.
Because although I don’t feel thankful for hard things in my life, I do believe that it is possible to be thankful in the midst of them, and in spite of them.
So why choose thankfulness?
1. Thankfulness is God’s will for us.
We live in a culture that is really good at pessimism, where grumbling and negativity often come more easily than thankfulness. But the Bible instructs us to always be thankful and to practice joy in all circumstances. Why? Because this is God’s will for us. And if it’s His will for us, then we can be sure that it is for our good.
2. Thankfulness is really good for us.
It turns out that practising thankfulness is really good for us too. Research has shown that gratitude is strongly associated with greater levels of personal happiness, lower levels of stress, better sleep, a better ability to deal with life’s adversities, stronger relationships, and better immunity to a whole range of illnesses too.
3. Thankfulness is catching.
I know that it can seem a bit like faking a smile at first, but really thankfulness is just like any other neuro-pathway in the brain; the more you choose it as your first response, the more you strengthen your ability to access it. The Bible refers to this process as ‘renewing the mind’. What’s more, when you speak out gratitude rather than grumbling, it encourages others as well.
4. We have so much to be thankful for
Even on the hardest of days when we don’t feel like we have much to be grateful for, the truth is that we actually still have so much to give thanks for. We have food to eat, clean water to drink, clothes to wear, a home to live in, friends and family who love us, not to mention the promise of eternal salvation. Once you start recalling it all, the list could just go on and on . . .
5 ways to practice thankfulness
I’ve compiled a short list my top tips for cultivating a thankful outlook in your life that supersedes your circumstance below.
1. Notice the good
Sometimes life is rubbish, and it’s okay to be honest about that. I’m learning that being thankful doesn’t mean denying our reality when life throws hard things our way. But equally, facing hard things doesn’t mean that there’s a lack of blessing in our lives or that we don’t still have lots to be grateful for either.
Life is rarely so black or white as being all ‘good or ‘bad’. It tends to be much more complex and nuanced than that. Both good and bad things will happen to us routinely because we’re still living this side of heaven. But the bottom line is that it takes no more energy to notice the good than the bad things in your day, and it will leave you feeling better if you do. So why not try to focus on the good?
2. Start small & do it daily
It’s easy to get stuck in the rut of believing that thankfulness should be limited to the really big blessings in our lives; but often looking for lots of small things to be thankful for is much easier and more encouraging than only acknowledging big blessings.
Like any habit, it might be feel strange at first, but the more you do it, the easier it will become. And if you sometimes find yourself struggling to see those small, every days blessings to be grateful for, my best tip is to get out in nature. Go for a short walk and soak in God’s creation. Even if you live in a city like me, I bet you don’t have to walk too far from your front door to discover beauty all around you!
3. Speak it aloud
It’s great to start noticing the goodness around you, but thankfulness is also about expression too. So each time you notice something that you feel grateful for, practice speaking your thankfulness out loud to God. And do it around other people too because as you choose to affirm all of the goodness that you notice around you, it has the potential to encourage them, to lift their mood, and change their perspective too. Thankfulness can become just as contagious as negativity is!
4. Make a record
Don’t just notice or speak out what you are thankful for, but try to record it too. Write it down in your journal or start to keep a list or a gratitude box with your family. Then you can go back and reflect on all the good things that you have been blessed with and feel grateful for – on those days which feel hardest or the most bleak. You see this demonstrated in the Bible a lot throughout Psalms and other books. When things got hard, the writers often recalled God’s goodness to them in the past to help lift their spirit in the present.
5. Cultivate joy
Whilst noticing and recording what is good is a great start, you could also go a step further by actively and intentionally seeking out moments of joy. What do you love doing? Why not decide to do it more? Who feels life-giving to be around? Make an effort to connect with them more often. What simple things in your life spark joy? Seek them out! Try to embrace those small moments of silliness, extravagance, or fun! Cultivating more joy in your life can be a form of worship too.
This post originally appears here on annakettle.com.
Meet Anna Kettle
Anna Kettle is an experienced Christian writer, blogger, speaker, and a multi award-winning marketing professional.
Her first published book, ‘Sand Between Your Toes: Inspirations for a Slower, Simpler, More Soulful Life’ releases in Spring 2021 under Tyndale House, and is available for pre-order now.
You can also find her regularly blogging on issues close to her heart such as miscarriage & infertility, parenting, faith, creativity, social justice, and holding onto hope when things are hard.
Anna is a coffee lover, bookworm, travel enthusiast, live music fan, a keen foodie, a gatherer of people, and a big believer in the healing power of words.
She is married to husband Andy, and mum to their son Ben (aged 5). They live in the beautiful waterfront city of Liverpool, England.
Where to find her . . .
Begin Within is a series to inspire a year-round lifestyle of gratitude that will impact not only your own life, but the lives of your neighbors as well. Gratitude is a theme we talk about often around here because it ties so closely into other missional living rhythms. Practicing gratitude reminds to keep our hearts soft and expectant and our eyes open. Therefore, the more we embrace gratitude, the easier it becomes to truly see our neighbors and where we can join what God is already doing in our neighborhoods.
My vision for this gratitude series is to help others embrace a year-round lifestyle of gratitude that will impact not only their own life, but the lives of their neighbors as well.
If you would like to contribute to Begin Within, you can find the submission guidelines here.
Creating Ripples
If you would like to cultivate rhythms in addition to gratitude that will empower you live on mission in your neighborhood, check out Cultivating a Missional Life: A 30-Day Devotional to Gently Help You Open Your Heart, Home, and Life to Your Neighbors. This small book will help you make a big impact in your neighborhood as you learn to let missional living flow from the inside out. Get the 30-day missional living challenge free when you purchase the book.
