A Thankful Heart - July 9, 2009

Today's Devotional is written by one of our guest writers.
Please enjoy!

1 Thessalonians 5:16 “Be joyful always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.” NIV

Have you ever been to a really good restaurant? Imagine you enjoyed an evening with extraordinary food and excellent service, accompanied by good company – everything just as perfect as expected. But how often did you go up to your waiter/waitress in the end and say “Thank You” for the good service or went into the kitchen to shake the hand of the chef? Probably not too often. On the other side though, how long does it take you to complain if not everything is a 100% perfect? Studies verify that people tend to
share their negative experiences 7 times as often as their positive experiences, simply because they expect perfectionism
as the standard.
Aren't we often times doing the exact same thing with God? How easy is it to complain as soon as things are going in a different direction than we expect and it seems as if we lost control over our life! Do we value the presence of God enough? Even in times without major challenges, we rarely take enough time to thank God for all the good things he has done for us, for our daily provision, for his hand upon us, his faithfulness and unfailing love. In those situations, where we face trials of many kinds, giving thanks sometimes even seems to be impossible. 1 Thessalonians 5:16 “Be joyful always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.”NIV
Life circumstances hold many challenges for us, we can either embrace them as a chance to grow or we can choose to complain. But does complaining change the situation in any way? The only result of complaining is that our heart turns away from being thankful towards God. We start thinking about how unfair our circumstances are instead of seeing God in the current situation. The Psalms are full of thanksgiving. If we look at those scriptures and the life of David, we get a real good example of how a thankful heart should look like. Regardless of his circumstances, David eventually always chooses
to praise God.
As I was reading my Bible one day, God was reminding me of the power that is being released through thanksgiving. I decided that I would start looking for things I could be thankful for in situations I would usually start to complain. As I began doing that, I realized how difficult it was for me in the beginning. Over time though, my whole thinking began to change and I even recognized a shift in how I view situations and a difference in my character as I chose to praise the Lord in situations where I used to make room for the enemy to come in and poison my thoughts. From time to time it still seems to be very hard to overcome initial feelings and enter into the “Thanksgiving” mode. But God is so faithful and rewards us with his presence as we give him praise – particularly in situations where the enemy tries to pull us away from the Lord and to rob our peace. We are to proclaim the scriptures over our lives and as children of the most high God we have the legal right to claim his word over our situations. If we do that continually, he is faithful to work everything for our good. 1 Cor. 15:57 “But thanks be to God! He gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Lord, help me to develop a heart full of thanksgiving. I choose to praise you in every circumstance, giving thanks for all that you have done for me. I want to thank you for the good things in my life instead of complaining about the situations where my own expectations aren't met. You are faithful, oh God to work everything for the good. Thank you for victory through your Son Jesus Christ! Amen