Thankfulness

Last Thursday, of course, was Thanksgiving.  And I hope you truly do have a lot to be thankful for.  I know, though, that sometimes it’s hard to feel that way.  Life throws a lot of stuff at us sometimes.  When that happens, it can be really hard to feel thankful.

We know we should, of course.  We know that, as the Apostle Paul says, we should be thankful in all circumstances.  But in some circumstances, it’s pretty hard.  We don’t feel thankful, even though we know we should.  And knowing we should sometimes makes things worse, because then we feel guilty about how we don’t feel thankful, and so we pile guilt on everything else we’re feeling.

It’s not easy sometimes.  It’s pretty hard to force ourselves to feel something we do not feel.  In fact, it may be impossible.  So what do we do?

First, I think, we have to make a decision.  Do I really want to find a reason to be thankful?  Because sometimes we don’t.  We may know we should try to be thankful, but sometimes we’re just not ready to do that yet.  And that’s okay, for a while.  If it lasts too long, then we may need to talk to someone, to get some help.  But depending on the circumstances, it can be okay if, for a while, we’re just not ready to start feeling thankful yet.

But let’s say we do want to find a reason.  Let’s say we’re tired of letting the circumstances get the better of us.  What do we do then?  That’s where we need to do two things.  We need to think, and we need to pray.  Not necessarily in that order.  In fact, I’d suggest doing both at once.

There is almost always something to be thankful for if we really think about it.  Maybe we’re thankful that things are not worse than they are.  Maybe we’re thankful for someone who’s been there for us and tried to help us through our troubles.  Maybe we’re thankful for a kind word.  Maybe we’re just thankful that God is still there with us.  What we’re thankful for will depend on what’s going on, but we can almost always find something if we truly think about it and look for it.  And prayer helps with that, because prayer will focus our attention on God and God will focus our attention on what we might actually find to be thankful for.

So my hope and prayer is that you will find something to be thankful for.  Not just at Thanksgiving, but every day.