It's November, and if your on facebook much at all I'm sure you have seen the never ending parade of I'm thankful status. It's a wonderful idea but why are status not reflecting our gratefulness all year around? Why do we have to drown our news feed in them for one month a year?
"Oh give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good." Psalm 107:1
"Rejoice in the Lord always, I say it again..rejoice" Phil 4:4
"For this is the day the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it" Psalm 118;24
doesn't really give you much room for being upset, angry, or for complaining does it.
Oh sure, I'll throw a status on facebook, "Thank you God for my husband"...and I'll turn around to my co-worker and complain about how I hardly get to see him or, how he didn't do the one thing I asked him to do..where is my thankfulness then? Is it just a show for the masses...look how great my life is, how good and thoughtful of a person I am. Is it a true reflection of your heart. Boy.I don't know about you, but I'm not very good at being truly grateful.
Actually I'm rather wretched at it. It's personal battle this past year especially with the lose of pets and the hard to digest news...it's rather easy for me to get down. Regardless of the fact I'm close to my family again, I get to line dance again, I got to see fall in the country. It's hard to be truly grateful and it's even harder when you have to extend that gratefulness to another. To be happy for somone getting what you want....
"I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, plans to prosper you ant not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.": Jer 29:11
Ah hope...even when I struggle to be like Paul "content in all my circumstances" (He could do that in prison and I can't do that with where I'm at..seriously)...even when I hurt others with my complaining and anger, and sometimes even my tears...even when dreams seem to be lost forever...Hope lingers..hope lasts..Hope is ageless expectation. Hope in a future...Hope Hope Hope.
REJOICE
Actually today was a hope filledday...sometimes a simple conversation with someone you hardly know can heal a hurt inside...just to know that they understand they have dealt with the feelings of hopelessness anger...disappointment as well, the knowledge you are not alone. Yes hope...
with ageless expectation, I wait for what I want, I hope for what is promised, and I trust the plans God has for me. Even when life is rough...It doesn't matter what anyone says, it will boil down to what God says..who are you to complain?
So it's November and everyone is thankful....and Thanksgiving is a wonderful reminder to be thankful for what we have...but one month out of 12...
There has got to be more to it then that...God is bigger then this, he is larger then life...and I'm going to try to be more grateful every day of my life...because..It's good to be alive.
It's still good practice, I think! Especially because the struggle it sometimes is to thing of something on the bad days makes us consider it more. One would hope that even when someone posts "I'm thankful for my husband," which is an easy one, the act of posting it at all makes them think about it more. That's what I've found myself, anyway.
ReplyDeleteI had a terrible week, full of stress at work, a huge financial blow, and almost losing a cat, and by the end of the week I was having a hard time. But i was thankful for cat pee, because it meant my cat wasn't about to die. And I really was. On Friday, it had built up a lot, and I ended up using a random phrase generator to get to my status. It came up with "Thankful for everyone, and brains." And you know what? It made me think about it, and I am thankful for that.
As for complaining, plenty of Psalms are about just that. God wants us to be honest with him about our feelings. There are moments in the Bible where I get a little uncomfortable with the way one of the patriarchs is talking to God. The important thing is to be honest with him about our feelings, then move on and give thanks for the things we do have.
Oh it's a great practice thats why I think we should do it more then one month a year...
ReplyDelete