“Saying thank you is more than good manners. It is good spirituality.” – Alfred Painter
Gratitude is an act of defiance. In this world, there is more to loathe than to be thankful for. When we see past the mountain of negative, much of which we are powerless to change, we see circumstances differently. It takes a truly concentrated effort to be thankful in life. It is no surprise then to learn of the spiritual discipline within this. It is in the most difficult – the thing our souls bristle at the most – that our Lord calls us to. And this is not a blind ignorance of the negative, but a perseverance of our soul our Savior beckons in us. He wants us to engage the negative, and to do something about it. This is why He uses analogies like salt, light, and bread to describe Himself, and therefore our work within Him, but we mustn’t be so enraptured with the hopelessness that we lose the everlasting hope we have in Him. From birth to our measured dying gasp, this hope covers us. From valley to valley deeper, this hope pulls us forward.
There is a rather bold declaration in Romans 8 where Paul states that all things end up working out for good for the saint. This verse always irritated my humanity to be honest. It seemed too “nice” for the world I saw playing around me. It seems too black and white in a world that only deals in shades of grey. Yet, even in the tragedy, there seems to be slivers of this everlasting hope peeking through. That for the saint, the good oftentimes comes only after the heartache, the pain, and even the final curtain. Our everlasting is just getting warmed up when our breath gives out.
When we are gracious, we are grateful. When we can peer into the darkness and still say amen through gritted teeth, this is when hope is made real and grace becomes practical.
This is the part of my blog (rant) where I would challenge you to write what you are thankful for. Honestly, it is a great activity. Try it if you wish. I mean, who wouldn’t get something out of this? (I’m thankful for . . . 1. coffee 2. a job 3. funny cat videos 4. Die Hard . . . . and so on)
What I would really want to leave you with however is this, to rest in the grace of God knowing that your biggest obstacle will one day be in your hindsight and the Lord will redeem it as He does with it all. Past, Present, and Future. It’s His.
Matt simon blog 