Gratitude as a new believer: Learning to be thankful in all circumstances

    I’ve always believed that Thanksgiving should be celebrated everyday, not just once a year, even before I gave my life to Christ. And while I’m a lover of all things Thanksgiving-meal related (more pumpkin pie, please), I mean the act of thanksgiving and being grateful. In Philippians 4:4-6, Paul tells the Philippians to rejoice in God and to thank Him for all He has done. Before I gave my life to Christ, Thanksgiving was just about being thankful for the relationships in my life, the opportunities I had been given or earned and another year of being healthy and alive. It never really occurred to me that the relationships I had cultivated were not by accident, nor that everything I had was actually given to me by God. Once I dug deeper into scripture at the beginning of my journey, I started to realize that God had had His hand in everything.

    Giving thanks to God is super easy when things are going our way. But what if you’ve had a hard year (2020, anyone?)? It’s not as easy to do, but Scripture tells us to do it anyway: “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus (1 Thessalonians 5:18, NIV). That’s been one of the harder parts about becoming a Christian, but I work at it every day. I was thinking today about a song by Garth Brooks called “Unanswered Prayers.” Well, I don’t know what Garth thinks about this, but sometimes when we think our prayers are going unanswered or ignored, the answer might be “no” or “not right now.” We’ve got to learn to be thankful in all circumstances (myself included) because we don’t get to pick and choose when to be on Team Jesus. It has to be all or nothing. And let’s not forget that God has done some pretty big things for us (severe under exaggeration, and can I get a Hallelujah?). God is always Team Amber or Team Insert Your Name Here, regardless of how you feel at any given time.

    This Thanksgiving, let’s go deeper than we have in the past. Of course, I am still thankful for my family, friends and the relationships that I have in my life. I’m still thankful for my health and the many blessings I have been given. But let’s focus on being thankful for who has put those people into our lives, given us the blessings we have, and ultimately, gave us the biggest blessing by sending His one and only son to die on the cross for our sins. Then, let’s work on being grateful on the other 364 days of the year, by not just our words, but our actions. Let’s build longer tables, instead of higher fences. Let’s talk the talk AND walk the walk. Let’s be thankful and grateful by being Jesus’ hands and feet.

This blog was originally written for the LowCountry Community Church blog, but to my knowledge was never posted or shared.