Gratitude
Last week was an interesting week for me. There was one day in particular when everything went wrong it seemed. I had a conversation with a friend, who was having the same type of day. As she was about to complain about what was going wrong, she stopped and said, no, I will not focus on the negative, I will deal with what is happening, but also find the positive. I decided to take the same stance, and while everything didn’t get better, I recognized that I can’t control everything, but I can control how I deal with it. How do you deal with opposition? Do you focus on the negative or do you find the silver lining, as they say?
The next day after my not so good day, I thought to myself, I must focus on the things I’m grateful, instead of what I feel I don’t have or want. Interestingly enough, within a couple of days, a friend gave me a gratitude journal. My thoughts, “okay, God, I get it.” LOL.
What is gratitude? Dictionary.com defines gratitude as the quality or feeling of being grateful or thankful; appreciative. Many times we lose focus, instead of being grateful for our many blessings, we focus on what we wish we had, what we are praying and asking God for, or what others have that we wish we had. In the times we are in, we must focus on our many blessings. While you can continue to think about the laundry list of things you do not have, how does that help you? Does it make the things you desire come quicker? Does it bring joy to your life? Nope! It will not come quick and it definitely will not bring any joy in your life.
A scripture that has been a blessing to me the last few days is Philippians 4:4-7, “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” This scripture reminds me to rejoice in the Lord, pray about everything with a grateful heart, and the peace I need will come.
I decided to challenge myself and do a gratitude challenge, Five days of Gratitude. I’m inviting you to be a part of this challenge with me. Sign up for the challenge here by Sunday, August 2, 2020, to receive email prompts to guide you on this challenge. On the other side of this challenge, I pray we grow closer to God and change your perspective to one that is focused on the positive and not the negative. God is a good God, in spite of what we may be going through.
Helpful Reference: This past Sunday, my friend, Rev. Lloyd (remember him from my podcast, “Beginning Again,” if you haven’t check it out) preached an awesome sermon entitled, Hakuna Matata. The title alone should make you go check it out, LOL! It was a great word, so I’m sharing it with you. Click here for the link to the sermon. The sermon was a blessing to me and it confirmed the message of gratitude and focusing on the positive, not the negative.