Whether it be through prayer, mindfulness, a walk in nature, or through a cheesy thanksgiving roundtable of what are you most thankful for, we have all experienced gratitude and if so, we have likely then experienced the overwhelming sense of good it brings. When we are thankful, we are present and we are content.
So if you experienced any sensation of this on thanksgiving, I want to implore you to keep it going. Don’t let it be a one day, one-time thing. Gratitude and thanksgiving can be and should be a daily thing.
I try to begin each day in prayer and in thanksgiving. And since Covid hit, I feel as if I’ve been even more routine with it. And like many people, when I pray I begin with gratitude and thankfulness. I recently read in our little devotional book, “when our minds are occupied with thanking God, there is no room for worry or complaining.” What a truth! When we are thankful, it focuses us on the good. It reminds us that life is good. It reminds us that God is good.
Additionally, I would argue that when we are thankful, we are more present with God. I have been in a season of such gratitude lately. I also feel as if I have been in a season of God’s presence too. And the more I think about it, I truly believe those two things are quite related and relational. The more time I spend in the word and spend with the Lord, the more thankful I am. And the more time I spend in gratitude and thankfulness, the more I feel God’s presence and God moving in my life.
The two, thankfulness and God’s presence, are closely linked and I believe God has designed it that way.
So… as we move away from this holiday of thankfulness, let us not move away from the practice of thankfulness, especially in prayer. Because when we take the time to be thankful and have gratitude, we inevitably will be reminded of the good in our lives and we will inevitably be communing with God, taking time to abide in God.
I know this pandemic has brought on hardship and loss for some. I know some people are hanging on by a thread. But I truly believe when you spend time with God, spend some time seeking the things in life to be thankful for, you will find peace because you will find God. And He brings the ultimate peace.
And if we practice thankfulness regularly, by its cyclical nature, we will have even more to be thankful for. Because we will be eliminating worry and complaining from our lives, leaving our hearts more content and much more joyful, no matter the season.
