Be thankful!

I've been recognizing in my own heart a quickness to speak or think negative things. I found myself grumbling this morning about the most ridiculous and trivial concerns. Insignificant as my complaints may have been, it set me in a rotten mood very quickly. This is a pattern I've been watching the last week or so in my attempts to seek out true joy. Time and time again, I find myself complaining or grumbling despite the fact that I am a beloved and favored child of the Most High God. My Dad doesn't want me to sit around complaining, after all He has filled my world with lots and lots and LOTS of beautiful things. He deserves my gratitude and honor...not groans and moans! Even when challenges occur, I find that there is so much in the midst to be thankful for.

I am grateful in a way that I am not the first person to find myself complaining. The Israelites, shortly after being rescued from 400 years of slavery began complaining and whining that God had brought them in the desert to die. (see exodus 16:13) Right...like God would go through the big display of the plagues, raising up the wimpy deliver (Moses), parting the red sea; ALL to kill them in the desert. Yep, that makes sense. But it seems that as people we are prone to complain. I cannot be critical of the Israelites because I am guilty of the same sin.

This morning I did a little exercise, Everything I found myself complaining about, I turned into something I was thankful for. When I didn't have something negative, I just began to think of what I was thankful for. It was easy to start as I thought about the people in my life who I hold so dear. But it didn't take me long to realize I needed to be thankful to SOMEONE. After all, the good things in life are not just here by happenstance. All Good things come from the very hand of God. (See James 1:17) So, my random exercise of being thankful turned into an act of praise. Very quickly I found that I can praise Him for literally everything! My sour mood was gone and I became more and more aware of the many good things in my life. I also became free to engage with the world around me. I was incredibly productive and proceeded to have a good day with my family.

There's a song that I love and it describes the amazing thing that happens when we praise God. He shows up! "A thankful heart prepares the way for you my God" (Song: come fall on us, Enter the worship circle, First Circle.) But of course, they were not the first ones to figure this out. The Psalmists proclaimed that God inhabited the praises of Israel. (Psalm 22:3) I can't quite explain it as it's a mystery to me but when we praise God, He moves. He can free you from depression, utilize you to bless another person, or pretty much ANYTHING else He wants to do. Please don't take that last statement as a way to manipulate the hand of God. He will not and cannot be manipulated. But when we are negative and bitter (not the same as brokenhearted), we fail to allow room for the Spirit of God to move.

I'm excited to move into a season of life of gratitude and praise to my God. Tomorrow, the rubber meets the road as I return to work but I'm excited to begin to turn towards my Lord and praise Him for the innumerable good things. It seems to me that we can start at thankfulness, move into praise, and suddenly find ourselves moved to intercede for the needs surrounding us. Makes sense, if we see God for who He really is, we are able to take the needs to Him with a trusting and child-like heart.

Have a happy Tuesday everyone and please join me in being thankful! After all, the very fact that we have air to breathe is a blessing in itself.