August 22, 2008
-
MORE THAN GRATITUDE
~ Gayle Rodgers
Becky had often heard the little saying, “Have an attitude of gratitude,” and for the most part she did. She could count her blessings and generally found a thankful spirit.Yet she could find no thankfulness in this difficult circumstance! Her “attitude of gratitude” could find nothing for which to be thankful for. If she were not careful, her heart could slip into despair and even bitterness.
She didn’t feel like reading her Bible, but she picked it up and flipped through it. Her eyes fell on a familiar verse she had highlighted with red…
“…in everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thessalonians 5:18).
It seemed to hit her with new clarity. It said, “in everything” not, “for everything.” She pondered the thought. If she could not be thankful FOR this particular circumstance, what did it mean to be thankful IN it?
When we ask sincere questions, with hearts hungry to understand God’s ways, the Holy Spirit shows us the answer.
Thoughts tumbled in her mind. She could be thankful for God’s faithfulness to her. As she recalled times past when life seemed out of control, she recalled God’s steadying hand upon her and how His strength had carried her in difficult times (Matthew 11:28).
She could be thankful that God promised to work things out for good … yes; she had seen His hand bring good out of the most troubling things (Romans 8:28).
With fresh realization her heart grew a bit lighter as she saw what God meant … be thankful IN her circumstance because she knew God was bigger than any problem and He would be faithful to help her, His child.
~ Father God,
I am truly thankful for my blessings. Yet it is quite another thing to be thankful in the hard times and with the unanswered questions of life. Thank You for understanding that it is not easy for me. Thank You for showing me that when I can’t be thankful for the hard stuff, You remind me just to be thankful IN it. For it is in that where Your character of faithfulness will be proven over and over to me. Thank You for the confidence that You will see me through. Help me to lean hard on Your strength, wisdom and care. Thank You that You will build a track record in my life through Your faithfulness. You enable me to be thankful in hard times because You are my God and You can be trusted with my life, even in the hard stuff! In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.
CHANGE ME O LORD
Dear Lord change not Thy will in my life,
Or trial and sorrows to be;
Renew my faith and make me strong,
Change not Thy will, change me.
Though teardrops fall when trouble comes,
Like storms on a rolling sea;
Let Thy beacon guide my ship to port,
Change not the storm, change me.
When Thy Holy Word I don’t understand
And Thy glory I cannot see;
Teach my eyes, give me sight and wisdom,
Change not Thy Word, change me.
If the fruit Thou hast given me to eat,
Taste bitter and sour, I plea;
Let not my will but Thine be done,
Change not the fruit, change me.
If sometime I murmur and grumble, dear Lord,
About the cross I carry for Thee;
Keep it firm on my shoulders, but hold my hand,
Change not the cross, change me.
If You change Thy ways to please me, dear Lord,
I would soon grow cold and turn from Thee;
That You may hear my prayers, dear Lord,
Change not Thy ways, change me.
There’s a valley that I must cross,
Someday Thy face to see;
Lest I forget what power is Thine,
Change not the valley, change me.
Author Unknown ~
Post a Comment
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Comments (22)
Thanks for copying this for me. I never thought about it like that. Being thankful “in” versus thankful “for”. A very good devotional for me to read. I am already dreading starting school next week. My oldest is a challenge. But I will try to keep this devotion in mind as I go through my days.
Kim
Hi Deborah. Thank you so much for your comments. That’s so funny about my fall theme and then the switch. I loved the fall theme, and can’t wait until fall, however, we are here in hot, humid Florida and I can’t wait for it to cool down, but didn’t want to get ahead of myself
. Thank you for the information about the Chiropractor. I have always been hesitant to go to them, as I think they don’t really know what they’re doing…it scares me. I guess because they don’t have MD after their name, it’s kinda frightening. However, with the information about how much they helped you, I am going to reconsider. We’ll see how the doctor appointment goes tomorrow first. Your fish dinner sounds really good and much healthier than the pizza :rolleyes: Enjoy! Is Elizabeth doing better? Have a blessed evening.
ryc: share away if you feel so inclined. :sunny:
For some odd reason you are not on my friends list, just my sub list so I hope to change that. Did you get a friends invite from me?:heartbeat:
:sunny:Hi Deborah, what a sweet post and yes, God is so good to show us His unconditional love. Thank you Lord.
ryc:First let me say you don’t need anyone to decorate your site as you do a lovely job on your own. About the archives, go to your page where you do your weblog and at the left where your look & feel, photo manager links are if you scroll down it will say archive. Click on that and it will take you to where you can save all your archives and you must save them first then after 24 hrs. you can upload them to your hard-drive and have them in your own files. I am not for sure if you knew my sister Donna well I have saved all of her archives as well as mine since I lost my first site to hackers I decided to save this site. Then you can delete old weblogs. Yes, that will make your site load slower. I hope I explained this where you can understand it? If not let me know and I will try and direct you.
It has been raining here for several days and we sure have needed it…I hope your pain eases up, I can’t help but believe that it has something to do with your female organs, as when I had my hysterectomy all of that went away for me…just curious, do you still have your ovaries? It amazes me how much those little organs can cause so much pain…weird?
My dear friend I so appreaciate your prayers for me & Bob it means a lot…I pray for you all too. I hope you and Lew find the home that will be just right for the both of you, thanks I love my house it is perfect for us, we both got the things that we wanted and we do enjoy it, I know though some day we will have the home of our dreams with our loved ones to boot…heaven will be so wonderful for us all!
I know that it’s hard thinking that Ian has left for good, I don’t mean to say that he is never coming back, but he has probably left the nest. At first it’s weird, but then it’s very nice just you & Lewis and then we he comes to visit it just makes it so much more special. I don’t get to see Vanessa as often as I would like and when their all here it just seems so good, a special time to cherish and you will cherish each time, you will want to do something different to make that stay that much more inviting…Things will all fall into place I know it….I hope you have a much better day today…pain free.:love:
HuGs….Linda:heartbeat:
RYC: Thank you for asking about my husband. So, far the medication is working well…no major side effects. It’s only been a few days, but we have hope. Both of us are leaning on the Lord for support and my Xanga friends have been wonderful. Praying Elizabeth is feeling better after the difficulty Friday. Be blessed.
Elizabeths Poem is so so soooooo good!!! tell her I said so!:love: Your word today is beautiful as well.:sunny:
Thank you so much for your kind comments and prayers. Thank you so so much for this wonderful blog post as well. Many blessings and continued prayers for precious Elizabeth.
Hey lady… I’ve been busy with the kids, as usual… took Bethany back to College a few days ago… the boys go back to school on Monday!
My computer is still in the “shop” getting worked on… I’m on my son’s laptop… I need a laptop! ha!
Have a blessed day… see you soon!
Hugs! Connie:heartbeat:
RYC: Your husband still shouldn’t have taken the blame. Sometimes you just have to face some things just to protect yourself and trust GOD to take care of it for you.
My insurance shouldn’t be going up this time. It’s my first accident and as far as I know, I have accident forgiveness. I think since Allstate started that other insurance companies are following them. I don’t have Allstate. I have Ameriprise and get a much better deal with them.
:sunny: :wave: :wave: :wave:
Hey girl,
Just wanted to drip in and say “hi” You can reasd my post as to where I have been LOL. This was as very good post,, we should aslways remember to be thankful@@@ Have a great and blessed week.
Hugs,
Jackie
So true! Thank you for the reminder, this is something I really needed to hear. God always gives us what we need, when we need it.
Melissa
Another great post, i hope all is going good for you and also that Elizabeth is getting stronger each day, hubby had his checkup and will have to have surgery in a few months we see the surgeon next month. have a great weekend and i will catch up with you real soon , Blessing to you my friend
sandy
You will never know how much I needed this post,………….
As I go trembling, through each day.
A raging storm within my breast
When I long for Thee, and thy sweet rest
“Change not the storm, O Lord I pray.
“Change Me!”
:sunny: lovely! i’m glad i came by…
Amen! Have a great weekend! :sunny:
HI!!!!! How are you? Are you all doing the Apple Festival this year? Hope to hear from you. Deanna:heartbeat:
in everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thessalonians 5:18).
One thing for sure, we do not see things or life the way Jesus does. Guess that is where faith and trust is built. We do know by faith that He is with us always. Giving thanks in the midst of trouble is a faith builder and from what I read here…obedience.
:sunny:Good Morning Sweet Deborah!……..Yes we must stay focused on Him through all things no matter how challenging they can be!………ryc: I taught Jess his basic driving skills and he took Driver’s Ed @ school, they have a Summer program here for that. He didn’t want Dad to teach him, Hubby has little patience when it comes to driving:nono:…..I just have to remind Jess of the rules of the road every now and than! He thinks he can change it for his convinence!Like STOP means stop not squeal tires on pavement! Ha!:eek:…….I have gotten the first of his two proof books for his Sr. Pics! The next one should be here next week! We are still deciding on what we would like to pick!
:heartbeat::love::heartbeat:
Hope you have a Fabulous Day! And know that I think of you and your family and pray! I also appreciate when you have time stopping in and commenting! (((((Hugs)))))………In Christ’s Love…..Monic
Cultivating a right spirit and a grateful heart even in the midst of pain and problems is a lot of work, but it does bring such wonderful peace! Miss you, friend!
I still have no time to read your site at all ~ rushing to get back to the grandbaby, but I do see that Elizabeth is doing well and I praise GOD with you for that! I will pray for her ~ bless her heart ~ and yours as well ~
r u there..will u pray 4 me tonight plz