What I Learned About Pursuing A Forever Grateful Heart
If you happened to look in my library of books, you would find out a lot about me. I have a plethora of books. Some tell of my interests like writing and painting, others tell of my desires like organization and decluttering, yet others will reveal to you my spiritual journey and pursuits like prayer and gratitude. If there is a popular book on gratitude, I probably own it!
I’m still, after all these years, on the road to developing an “attitude of gratitude.” I will say that I’m doing much better than when I was a young mom of four, amid diapers and chaos and the never-ending feeling of not quite getting things “right.” Developing a heart of gratitude is a process.
What I have found is gratitude doesn’t come naturally, and it isn’t always an easy path! Why is that? Why do I seem to have days that I lack thankfulness and only see the struggle?
Anyone Else Guilty of Navel Gazing?
Over the years, I have come to realize that those days I struggle to be thankful, days I lack a heart of gratitude, are the days that I am most likely looking at myself and what I affectionately call “navel gazing.” I am forgetting to look to the source of gratitude, the One who gives me all I need for this life! That’s it! That’s the solution! Sounds so easy, right? Just look to Jesus and your heart will be happy!
Believe me, I have all the verses and the books that tell me to look to the Bible and prayer. Don’t get me wrong, that is good and does help, but what is missing most of all is relationship. Yes, I have a relationship with Christ, I am a child of God, yet at times my relationship with Him lacks intimacy! It lacks a closeness that can distract me from myself and hardships. When I get distracted by the things of this world, life, relationships, and busyness, my gratitude level plummets! Can you relate?
My desire is to find the key to having a heart of gratitude, but how do I get there? How do I pursue and hold on to this forever grateful heart?
Growing a Forever Grateful Heart
I have found that developing a deep, intimate relationship with my Father changes how I look at things. There is a quote I heard the other day that said, “When we change the way we look at things, the things we look at change.”
By looking at my current struggle or hardship through the lens of a loving Father’s purposes, my heart can be thankful, but only if I have that kind of relationship where I trust and believe God has my best interest in His plan. When my relationship with God is on that intimate level, I rest in the knowledge that I can have a heart of gratitude through the struggle because my focus is on the One who loves me and not the hardship I am facing.
So how do we have a relationship like that? How do we get to that level of intimacy with our heavenly Father? How do we develop a trust that grows a heart of gratitude?
Let me be clear, it is a lifetime task, but once you begin the journey, you will want more! The answer is . . . Get to KNOW Him! Learn all you can about Him! He wants us to know Him! In Revelation 3:20 the Bible says, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come into him and eat with him, and he with me.”
The God of the universe, the creator of heaven and earth wants to have a meal with us. He desires an intimate relationship with us. Imagine that! He wants us to know Him and the more we know Him, the more we will love Him and the more that we love Him, the more we will trust in His good plan for us! And out of that trust, love, and knowledge, grows a forever grateful heart!
My gratitude journey is still ongoing. I am still growing in my knowledge of Him. My path to knowing, loving, and trusting sometimes appears to be at a standstill, but I am pressing on and my prayer for you is to press on! Be encouraged even on those days when your heart of gratitude is lacking. Those days are in His loving hands as well.
Meet Sharon Mizener
Sharon Mizener is a 60-something woman who has been married for 43 years with four children (four added “in-loves”) and 12 grandchildren. Life’s journey has taken her through many joys and challenges and has taught her a generous portion of life’s lessons along the way. Sharon’s hope and desire is to encourage those needing a little insight or reminder to look to Christ in all seasons. After teaching piano for the past 20 years, she recently retired and is now adjusting to yet another path this life offers. Sharon enjoys family, writing, blogging, reading, music, painting, and pickleball, and is always open for a cup of coffee and great conversation.
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.
If you would like to contribute to Begin Within, you can find the submission guidelines here.
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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.
