DISPLAYING GRATITUDE
If you are thirsty and are given a glass of water that is half-full what is your response? Are you thankful for its contents or do you complain because it is not full? The level of gratitude that accompanies your response will undoubtedly impact how well your thirst is quenched.
The English word gratitude is derived from the same word that gives us grace. Did you know that gratitude and grace are Siamese twins? As Christian women we daily experience the grace of God—if we are looking for ways to acknowledge that God's grace is at work in our lives and the lives of others, then we will have many reasons to express gratitude. However, if we complain more frequently than we express gratitude we are setting ourselves up for long-term devastating effects on both our physical and spiritual lives. I can personally attest to the negative impact that a complaining spirit has on one’s life; before our Lord drew me into His family, my attitude was so negative that when I awoke each morning my first reaction was, “I wonder what terrible thing is going to happen to me today.” I was always a prophet of my own doom—by nightfall I had several items to add to my list of “Poor Pat Protests.” Unfortunately, I carried my negative, complaining spirit into my new life as a Christian. Then one day my pastor began to preach about “walking in the spirit” (Galatians 5:16), and I learned that my negative, complaining spirit was SIN rather than the discerning spirit I attributed to it. I also learned that the best antidote for a complaining spirit is a thankful spirit, and that was something I needed to cultivate daily. He challenged his congregation to make a list of the things we were thankful for and when we were tempted to complain, instead choose to meditate on all of God’s gifts to us. I accepted his challenge, purchased a pretty journal that invited me to write in it, and began by writing Psalm 103 on the first page. Daily I recorded only God’s blessings to me—and I found my attitude gradually changing. I have filled multiple journals, and at least one entry a week records my heavenly Father’s blessings to me. Now when I feel a tendency to revert back to my habit of “Poor Pat Protests” I spend time reviewing my journals and find that by the conclusion of my reading session my “protests” have turned to “praise!”
Giving thanks for everything seems like an oxymoron. Twenty-first century society tells us that this is an unrealistic expectation. However, the Bible directs us to give thanks for everything (1 Thessalonians 5:18). As you consider the concept of gratitude, in relation to this short poem do you believe that it is an unrealistic expectation?
We can give thanks in everything
And say, ‘Your will be done.’
For God’s at work in everything
To make us like His Son.1
Real gratitude expands our ministry opportunities. The more thankful we are, the more we are aware of our many blessings. If we only offer praise and thanksgiving when things go our way, we develop tunnel vision. However, if we are grateful for all that our heavenly Father brings into our lives, then our horizons are expanded and our ability to sincerely offer praise, regardless of the circumstances, increases! As this character quality becomes more evident in our lives others will be attracted to us rather than repelled—thus expanding our ministry borders.
Again, I can speak with conviction about this spiritual principle. Many circumstances in my life (being abandoned as an infant, being orphaned by adopted parents in my early twenties, being single, to name a few) initially appeared to be legitimate reasons to complain. However, as I chose to believe that my Lord is a sun and shield; that He gives grace and glory; and that there is no good thing that He will withhold from me if I am walking uprightly (Psalm 84:11), I realized that all I need to do is take care of the walking uprightly part (that includes being grateful for all things), and He will do the rest! Looking in retrospect at the seemingly devastating circumstances, I can now see how my loving heavenly Father used each as a vehicle to minister to others as well as to shape my character. The September 16 selection of Joy and Strength contains a piece of prose written by Priscilla Maurice (1810-1854), which clearly describes this thought:
Begin with thanking Him for some little thing, and then go on, day by day, adding to your subjects of praise: thus you will find their numbers grow wonderfully; and, in the same proportion, will your subjects of murmuring and complaining diminish, until you see in everything some cause for thanksgiving. If you cannot begin with anything positive, begin with something negative. If your whole lot seems only filled with causes for discontent, at any rate there is some trial that has not been appointed you; and you may thank God for its being withheld from you. It is certain that the more you try to praise, the more you will see how your path and your lying down are beset with mercies, and that the God of love is ever watching to do you good.2
When we study Christian biographies we learn that God's "giants" were people who knew how to praise the Lord in the midst of suffering. God used their lives to impact others because they knew how to give thanks—even in difficulties. Are you the type of Christian woman whose prayer list is filled with personal wants, while your praise list stays the same or shrinks? Or are you choosing to be a Multi-tasked Woman who offers praise and thanksgiving daily? Your response to these questions determines your level of spiritual maturity. If you are . . .
· increasing in your knowledge of the Word, then you have many reasons to thank our Lord.
· seeking to serve others (Mark 10:45), then you will have new motivation to praise the Lord.
· looking for ways to bear the burdens of others (Galatians 6:2), then your praise for what God is doing will probably increase.
Praise should touch every area of our lives. If it is our heart’s desire to mature as a Multi-tasked Woman then we will praise more and complain less!
So, if praise is pleasing our heavenly Father and propels us into a mature, godly woman what is the primary obstacle? Simply stated the primary obstacle is pride—and it is most often revealed through an attitude of criticism. We will not always get the best or have people serve us in the way we think we deserve; in fact, the Lord may reprove us by giving us the opposite of what we expect. Pride not only goes before a fall (Proverbs 16:18), it also goes before a lot of disappointments. Our heavenly Father wants us to strive for spiritual maturity; pride and selfishness hinder the process. As Multi-tasked Women, we will want to remember that the first of the seven things that are an abomination to our Lord is “haughty eyes” or a “proud look” (Proverbs 6:16-18).
It is not always easy to look up and say, "Thank you, Lord," when circumstances are challenging; however, it is a necessary reaction and one that demonstrates that you are exercising your will rather than your emotions. While our Lord may not change the circumstances, praise will effect what the circumstances do to us. Remember, the Psalmist directs his writings to the will, not the emotions!
The unsaved world is accustomed to hearing people complain; they really don't know what to do with people who are joyfully praising the Lord! The Philippian jailor (Acts 16:25-29) was not brought to Christ by the earthquake—that made him want to commit suicide! It was because Paul and Silas praised the Lord—under difficult circumstances—that the man heard the Gospel and knew that there was a way of salvation. It is a sober realization that a complaining Christian woman will be a pitiful witness for her faith; in reality, she is too much like the world to have much effect on it. The story of the 10 lepers highlights the fact that we are prone to accept blessing without saying “thank you." Too often Christian women are like the nine lepers who were healed of a disease that labeled them as outcasts of society; they wanted the gift of healing but failed to give thanks to the Lord Jesus (Luke 17:11-19) once it was bestowed. Paul provides a severe warning in 2 Timothy 3:1-7 to believers who fail to offer thanks.
Just as we delight in hearing others express gratitude to us, so God finds great delight in hearing His children say, "thank you." He inspired the Psalmist to write, "It is good to give thanks to the Lord" (Psalms 92:1); since saying “thank you” pleases God and encourages others, Multi-tasked Women will do it often! As you multi-task, remember . . .
If we were thankful for everything
The way God tells us to be,
What a wonderful change in our living
We would be able to see!3
1D. De Haan from Our Daily Bread.
2Tileston, Mary Wilder. 1929. Joy and Strength. Minneapolis: World Wide Publications, 260.
3 Author Unknown
