Day 22 - Issue 26
Matthew 11:28 NLT
Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.”
Gratitude is an attitude. So often I have treated it as a feeling. If I feel bad I act miserable, and can find little reason to express gratitude. This was Israel’s problem just hours after crossing the Red Sea. Life felt different, because it was different. They didn’t feel comfortable and so presented their complaint to Moses and through him to God, their deliverer.
This is not to say that we pretend as though life’s difficulties don’t exist. Gratitude doesn’t come easily. We have to decide to live gratefully despite immediate circumstance.
When in crisis, review those previous times when life has come up short. Here’s where journaling helps, for you can return to consider how God saw you through such times before.
God miraculously helped Israel as they crossed the River Jordan. On this crossing they collected twelve stones from the riverbed and set them up as a permanent monument of remembrance of God’s deliverance. Whenever we face bad news, an unwelcome diagnosis or chronic pain, there is reason to revisit some past event which is surrounded with grateful memories. Revisiting those emotions can have a very positive impact upon present reality. It’s not to ignore nor deny that reality, it’s to reach for gratitude as a preferred attitude. It’s to take control of the brain and choose to live God’s way rather than give free rein to feelings that can only react to immediate circumstances.
Engaging the will requires a disciplined response. I need to determine that I am making my way to God for in God is my rest. I visit positive past events, engaging the emotions I enjoyed then and recalling that there is much for which I am grateful. I also approach God, reminding myself and being reminded by the Holy Spirit that God’s provision for me is to eventually rest from the labours of battling the challenge I currently face.
QUESTION: Write down some significant blessings from the past that you are grateful for.
PRAYER: Lord God, thank you for your faithfulness to me throughout my life.
