It’s Thanksgiving week and everyone’s talking about what they’re thankful for…
But what if you’re not thankful?
Your job is stressful. School is too much. Your child is sick. You’re grieving a loss. There’s tension in your family. You name it. If we’re honest, we’ve all felt frustrated at the lack of good things in our life at one point or another. Sometimes you just don’t feel grateful.
And the last thing you need is someone to tell you all the reasons you have it better than someone else. Yes, it’s true, someone else always has it worse, but when you’re hurting, that doesn’t usually fix your attitude.
So what do you do? Do you sit out this Thanksgiving week, letting your frustrations turn you into a Scrooge?
That’s your choice. It’s certainly an option.
Or, do you pause and allow God to do some work on your heart?
“…we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” 2 Cor. 10:5
The Bible tells us that God gives us a “new heart” (Ezekiel 36:26). If you’re struggling with gratitude this Thanksgiving, maybe it’s time to trade in your heart and expect God to make good on His promise for a new one.
“And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart.” Ezekiel 36:26
Will a new heart change your circumstances? Will it fix your problems? Will it mend your relationships? Will it calm your grief?
No. But it will change how you see them.
When we experience the transformation only God brings, not only do we gain a brand new heart, we also get new eyes. We see our weakness as an opportunity for God’s strength, our trials as an opportunity for God’s provision, and our pain as an opportunity for God’s comfort.
God’s silence is not equate to his absence. We can shift our minds from asking “why” to asking “what.”
What if, all along, that thing you’re not grateful for was really an opportunity for God to be strong in your life?