ROOTED IN LOVEā½ HOME
Sometimes it’s hard to be thankful.
When the bills are piling up, or someone you love gets sick, or everything in the house keeps breaking, or you lose your job, or the kids are in trouble at school, or, or, or…
So many things in life can go wrong. It’s easy to focus on the hard things or the things we wish we could change. There are constant problems that need to be solved, and we get wrapped up in trying to fix everything. We get consumed by worry and anxiety over the future until we can’t even sleep at night because our brains just won’t stop churning.
Yet even when life feels like a never-ending cycle of chaos, there is always so much to be thankful for. Number one, we have Jesus Christ on our side.That thought alone is enough to make me feel better when
I’m down in the dumps. It requires effort to take my eyes off what’s troubling me and fix them on Jesus instead, but thankfully He grants me the strength I need. And that’s another thing to be thankful for.
Here’s a simple trick I’ve found that helps when I’m overwhelmed by life: Thanking God for every single thing I can think of.
Seriously, it’s that easy. I just go outside or somewhere quiet and start thanking Him. First, I just name things that are around me like trees, flowers, grass, sunshine, clouds, etc. After a minute or two, my mind gets flooded with other beautiful things in my life. My kids, my husband, our home, books, good food, clean clothes, a car... Before I know it, I’m feeling grateful for things I’ve never even considered thanking Him for before. Electricity and running water, paper and pencils, clocks, toilets, internet, refrigerators, towels…anything and everything!
As I pour out thanksgiving to the Lord, my mind is clear and my heart is full of joy. The things that felt so insurmountable before are now a little less fearsome. They don’t feel so all-consuming, because I’ve put them in perspective. I’ve changed my thoughts from obsessing over that one thing, to realizing how very blessed I am.
Being thankful might feel hard sometimes, but it’s soothing to a weary soul. Shifting your focus from stress to gratitude makes life’s challenges more bearable, and it changes your attitude from being me-centered to being Christ-centered. When everything feels like it’s piling up on top of you, take a moment to say thank you for all the beautiful things. It only takes a few minutes, but it’s a gamechanger for your spiritual health.
“A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.”
Proverbs 17:22