I have to tell you, in my personal history, I have always been a “glass half empty” type of person. I am not proud of it, but that is the way I have rolled for a while. When I began to examine the truths of How to Pray, one of the first things I realized was that in order for me to be joyful and at peace, I needed to be more grateful. You see, like many of us, I so easily turned my thoughts to what I didn’t have, or to what prayers God wasn’t answering.
Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7)
On the other side of it, I realized that if all I was focusing on was what I didn’t have, then how in the world could I ever experience true joy and happiness? Again and again in the Bible, God reminds us to take captive our thoughts.
We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. (2 Corinthians 10:5)
There is a reason for that: Our thoughts affect our emotions. Our thoughts determine how we react to everything.
I went through a period a few years ago when I was plain old unhappy. Not in my marriage or family, but just in my approach to everything, to life. I constantly voiced how unfair, or unlucky, I was to always have these things happen. I would say things like, “I shouldn’t have expected that to go right.” I used words to literally suck the joy out of my life. Fortunately, I have come to understand the power of my conversation, whether with others or with myself.
I have learned a very important lesson: The root of joy is thankfulness.
And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful. (Colossians 3:15)
If you can’t be thankful for what you have, if you constantly focus on what you don’t have, if you compare yourself to others, you won’t find joy. You won’t have joy. It is impossible. Comparison, envy and jealousy are the seeds that kill a joyful life.
Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other… (Galatians 5:25-26 NASB)
Fortunately, I finally learned that, but not until I had walked through some serious stress and trials of my own.
All through the Bible, we are reminded to be thankful. Why do you think that is? Do you think that the act of being thankful itself can change things?
I do. I know it firsthand.
The realization of my negative attitude just seeped into every part of me one day. I went back and looked at how I approached and reacted to things. I was embarrassed. Not only that I had sucked my family into my chosen misery, but that others could see it– very clearly. My obvious attitude of ungratefulness affected those around me, most importantly my family.
But thankfulness is an amazing thing.
- Praise God for what you have.
- Praise God for what He has done.
- Praise God for where He has put you.
When I began intentionally praising God, it was a critical turning point for me. I’ll never forget it. His Holy Spirit came and hovered over me, then washed over me, a cleansing that renewed my spirit.
Praising Him, being thankful, brought back my joy. I could see all that I had to be thankful for. And now, every single day, I can’t wait to praise Him for what He has done for us. I am so much more grateful for every single thing. Things I used to take for granted, I now see differently.
What are you thankful for? Have you had a similar journey, struggling with joy and happiness? I’d love to hear from you.
Thank you for sharing your experience! This post is exactly what I needed RIGHT NOW! When I do stop and think about all that I DO have (most importantly good health for me, my husband and my kids) my complaints show themselves to be so silly and hardly worth wasting a second of my time on. Thank you God for all the wonderful blessings you have given me.
I know, the hardest thing to do is stop and remember, life gets in the way!
I will bookmark this post and return to it when I’m feeling down about my circumstances.
A month and a half ago the private student loan company attached my wages, $600 a month. They are taking what is rightfully theirs, and I understand that. I also owe the Dept of Education $650+ a month, which I will never be able to afford. I am now faced with living the rest of my working life in poverty. I am struggling with this spiritually. He saved me from a terrible childhood of abuse.. for what? this? A lifetime of struggle… of destitution?
But then I stop and remind myself to thank my dear God every time I start feeling anxious or sorry for myself. I thank Him for my son’s life. Nothing else remotely compares to the importance of my son’s life. My dear 15-year-old baby came to me this past September and told me that he thinks about taking his own life, about cutting his wrists.
So today in this public arena, I praise you my dear Lord for the greatest gift you could ever give me, and I thank you dear Lord for giving my son the courage to tell me how he was feeling. Thank you my dear, dear Lord for loving us so much and meeting our every need.
Wow, thank you so much for sharing your story. I love how God brings things out into the light, you know? In the light there is hope. 🙂
I absolutely LOVE how you put this! Too many times, I have found myself in that same stump…nothing is fair or goes well for me. Thankfully, God pulls me thru. Thank you for sharing your story. I truly enjoyed it!
Dawn – I did it so much it became habit. I finally broke it, and still slip back in, but it is a slow steady process of being remolded daily.
This is so true. In Phil 4:11 Paul says I have learned to be content no matter what state I am in. This is a hard verse to swallow and it is something I have been striving to do.
Something that I did just this morning (before reading this post) is create a simple thankfulness chart where I can write down one thing that I am thankful for each day. This helps me not only to focus on a specific blessing in my life, but it also reminds me when I read back through the previous days to see all the blessings for which I should be thankful. Here is the link that contains the pdf of the thankfulness chart in case anyone is interested.
http://healthynbalanced.wordpress.com/2012/01/03/give-thanks-everyday/
But really really thanks for writing this!
Tiffany – I agree, it is the hands down hardest part of living a Christ centered life. It is so easy to complain and look at what we don’t have. I love your ideas here!
When you have an ‘I Hate My Job’ day [Even if you’re retired, you sometimes have those days] Try this out: Stop at your pharmacy and go to the thermometer section and purchase a rectal thermometer made by Johnson & Johnson. Be very sure you get this brand. When you get home, lock your doors, draw the curtains so you will not be disturbed. Change into very comfortable clothing and sit in your favorite chair. Open the package and remove the thermometer. Now, carefully place it on a table or a surface so that it will not become chipped or broken. Now the fun part begins. Take out the literature from the box and read it carefully. You will notice that in small print there is this statement: “Every Rectal Thermometer Made by Johnson & Johnson Is personally tested and then Sanitized.” Now, close your eyes and repeat out loud five times: ” I am so thankful that I do not work in the thermometer quality control department at Johnson & Johnson.”
I just thought that you might need a little humor to end the day on the right note.
Brenda – That is absolutely hysterical! It is all about perspective isn’t it?????
Love it!!!
It always helps to remember what God has saved us from, everlasting torment in hell. From there I find that it is very easy to thank Him for all that He does for me. Also when I see others in my church suffering physically with chronic pain I find a good bit more to be thankful for. I also have chronic pain but have watched other women come to church and smile and it convicts me. I also look at the world and see what they don’t have “true peace”, that also gives me many things to be thankful for. The list goes on and on. The trials in life just make us better people when we don’t allow oursleves to become bitter. I also find that when I meditate on how Christ sufferred on the cross for my sins I have a great deal to be thankful for. My pain is nothing compared to what He suffered. Not only that, but He was totally innocent of sin, it was because of my sins that He was on the cross in the first place. God gives and places so many things in our lives, that if we will meditate on them we will find plenty to be thankful for. There won’t be any time left to be sad or bitter because we are way too busy praising God.
Kathleen, I totally agree! I love your perspective and words here. Our view point means everything in our attitude. Praise God for that!
Kelly,
Funny…I keep checking back to your page about once a week to find a money saving idea for my family and always find it such a blessing to find that you have taken the time to share with us your journey in being closer to God. Each of us face trials but I really believe its how we face them that really matters. I love to hear what you are facing because I always find something that hits home with me. Today it was when you said “I have learned a very important lesson: The root of joy is thankfulness”. Finding the joy in things has definately been difficult for me..there is this amazing lady at church that has a laugh that warms your heart, she literally has a line before and after church of those of us that need to be hugged and if you didn’t seek her out for her hug she always seems to find you! I look at her in such amazment because she is the definition of JOY! I asked her one day how she is filled with such joy and didn’t get what she meant until I read your blog. Her answer was that when she asked Jesus into her heart she was filled with joy. It didn’t make sense because I kept thinking “Hey, that’s what I did!” I get it now though…the key is thankfulness. How can you not be filled with joy when you have God on your side? How can you not have joy if you count all the blessings you do have instead of counting what you don’t have? So today I am thankful for your blog that really helped me put this into perspective! I really hope you continue blogging and sharing your faith and your walk with God so that it can reach others that might really need to hear it!! Thanks!
Andrea, oh thank you so much for your encouragement and for letting me know that the Lord is speaking through this ministry. Do not worry, unless God changes my plans, I have no desire to move away from this ministry. I love blogging and sharing what the Lord is teaching me. He has made it so clear to me that I am never the only one. Not only does he confirm it in the Bible, but in my daily life through all your comments, emails and the people I see in my own community. I pray that the Lord fills you completely with joy and that he opens your eyes to see all the blessings he has bestowed upon you. I really believe it is just a matter of us being more in tune with the Spirit as to when we are able to be thankful and “see” the beauty of his work around us.
Thank you for the reminder to be thankful. It is really easy to fall into ungratefulness and this is a dark time for me, so I really appreciate your encouragement.