By Allison Bucher
Scripture is filled with reminders to give thanks, far more than we could read in one sitting. But here are a few that beautifully capture the heart of gratitude:
- Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. — 1 Thessalonians 5:16–18
- So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. — Colossians 2:6–7
- Praise the Lord. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever. — Psalm 106:1
Gratitude sounds simple when we read it on the page, but sometimes it feels a lot harder to live out, especially when life seems to pile on one thing after another.
A couple of months ago, I was talking to a friend, and I was in a mood. I don’t fully remember the context of what we were talking about, but at one point I was telling her how I felt like the past few months had just been one thing after another. Our AC unit broke. Our house had an undiagnosed electrical problem. I hurt my wrist and had to wear a brace for weeks. I got a nail in my tire. Our basement flooded while we were on vacation. And after all that, I just sat back and thought, why is all of this happening?
As I was talking to my friend, she started telling me about something called cognitive distortions and affirmation bias. Basically, cognitive distortions are the little ways our brains can exaggerate or twist how we see things, and affirmation bias is when we only notice what proves what we already believe.
She explained that it’s like buying a new car. For example, you want to buy a Jeep, and then suddenly you start seeing Jeeps everywhere. Our brains tend to notice what we focus on. The same thing happens when life starts to feel hard. It feels like when one bad thing happens, everything else starts going wrong too. After that conversation, I started realizing how often I do both without even thinking about it. It really pushed me to shift my focus toward gratitude and ask myself where my focus really is.
Several years ago, I went to a church service around Christmas time, and the pastor was talking about light and darkness. At one point during the sermon, they turned off all the house lights, and there were very few lights left on (exit signs and runway lights). The pastor talked about how it’s impossible to turn up the darkness because darkness is just an absence of light. Then he told the story of Jesus’ life and how he brought light to a dark world, and how he still brings light to our darkness. And in those few short moments when he was preaching in the dark, he spoke words that I’ve held onto for almost a decade: “We can choose to focus on the darkness, or we can choose to focus on the promise of the light.”
That’s what gratitude is. It’s focusing on the light, or the promise of the light, when we find ourselves in darkness, in tough situations, in moments where it feels like bad things keep happening. Ever since that sermon, one of my favorite verses has been John 1:5: “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
Even in moments when it feels like bad things keep happening, there is light. There are good things happening. For me, yes, all those difficult things happened, but around that same time, I also started an amazing job, bought a house, married my now husband, and so much more.
There is always something to be grateful for. There is always something to be praising God for. Good or bad, we can still express gratitude and thankfulness, because our praise should not be dependent on how we perceive our circumstances. We should give thanks in all circumstances, good, bad, or indifferent. I sometimes struggle with being a reactive praiser. When something good happens, I praise God. When something bad happens, I ask, “Why, God?”
What gratitude does is it helps us shift our focus. It helps us praise God for the good and the bad. It takes us from praising God for what He’s done to praising Him for who He is.
Looking for a way to connect with God daily? Check out our daily devotional books: Living in Truth Day by Day *** Living in Truth Mind, Body, Spirit *** Living in Truth: A Christmas Devotional