Thankfulness. What comes to mind when you hear this word? Are you thinking about turkey and dressing yet? For the month of November we are exploring the spiritual discipline of thankfulness or gratitude.
In 1 Thessalonians 5:18, Paul exhorts believers to “be thankful in all circumstances,” and in Philippians 4:6 he says, “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done” (NLT). As followers of Jesus, thankfulness is something that should define us. We should be a people marked by a rhythm of gratitude, a people who are constantly aware of God’s work and God’s abundant gifts in our midst who repeatedly turn back to thank him. But developing such a rhythm and attitude of thankfulness is challenging. As Richard Foster points out, children “do not need to be trained to ask for things…But to express thanks? That is a wholly different matter. What endless effort it takes to help our children cultivate a habit of gratitude.”1 And so it is with us. We can easily fall into a rhythm of complaining, worrying, criticizing, being discontent, or seeing only our lack. Thankfulness as an attitude of the heart is contrary to our human nature.
But how do we develop a thankful attitude in all circumstances without ignoring real life which is full of frustrations, pain, suffering, and hardship? Giving thanks in all circumstances does not require us to ignore our circumstances. Instead with an attitude of thankfulness we confront our circumstances with a right perspective- a perspective which acknowledges that even on the darkest of days, God is with us and is still at work in our midst. As Adele Calhoun says, “Thankfulness is a thread that can bind together all the patchwork squares of our lives. Difficult times, happy days, seasons of sickness, hours of bliss- all can be sewn together into something lovely with the thread of thankfulness…Thanksgiving is possible not because everything goes perfectly but because God is present.”2 An attitude of thankfulness connects us to God as we notice, acknowledge, and thank him for what he does for us in all circumstances.
Developing a rhythm and an attitude of thankfulness or gratefulness takes time, discipline, and training because it is not natural. Complaining, worrying, and criticizing come much more naturally for us. In John 10:10, Jesus declares that he has come to give us abundant life, and James reminds us in his letter that “every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights” (1:17). Everything we have is a gift from God; we deserve none of it. And the only appropriate response is gratitude, thanking God for all he has done.
The Practice: Gratitude Journal
As we seek to develop a heart and rhythm of gratitude this month, we are going to keep a gratitude journal. Essentially, this is an ongoing, daily list of all the ways you encounter God’s abundance this month. You can do this in a journal or simply keep a list on a piece of paper in your Bible.
Reflect: Set aside a few minutes at the close of each day to reflect on your day. What has God done in your midst today? How have you encountered God’s abundance? For what would you like to thank him?
Write & Express Thanks: Write down at least one thing for which you are grateful. Then, spend time praying and thanking God for his abundant gifts. Keep an ongoing list this month in your journal.
If evening is not an ideal time for you, try first thing in the morning. Regardless of the time you choose, try to do this practice at the same time each day. What we are going for is developing a rhythm of gratitude, a rhythm that will pull us forward even on those days when we don’t feel like being thankful.
May our hearts be drawn into a rhythmic expression of gratitude as we encounter God’s abundance in our lives this month.
