In the Pursuit of Thankfulness

Whether some of us believe that God exists or not, all of us have said a prayer (or 2 or 3) about something that we hope will happen. For those of us who understand that God most definitely exists and is actively interested in what His people need, we know that He answers prayers. Sometimes the answers are “yes”, sometimes the answers are “no” and sometimes the answers are “not right now.”

That is why I must be open to His role in my life and recognize that role by being thankful for the answers that I receive even if it is not the answer that I think that I am looking for. If I look back in my life and the paths that I’ve traveled, I can see that God was guiding me on the path that He needed me to be on.

Think about that statement carefully…. “I can see that God was guiding me on the path that He needed me to be on.” Too many times, we don’t trust God enough to guide us through life. I have found that for each fork in the road that I came to, God has given me a new purpose.

I know that God answers prayers because of things that have happened within my own life and with my own family. I can see the time that I walked into a business to fax my information to the State of Louisiana and had to go back because I accidently sent it to the wrong number. When I went in the second time, the owner/operator asked me if I knew of someone who needed a job. My oldest son, Marc, was definitely looking for something at that time and he has enjoyed it ever since! The same thing happened with my youngest son, Alec. I happened to call a friend of mine whose boss needed someone to work since he was losing his summer workers that were going back to school. Alec comes home happy and telling me all about the things that he did that day. I have so many more that I can say but you catch my drift. These are things that I had asked God for and this was a time that He said, “Yes!’ My sister-in-law, Traci, calls that “a God moment”. How apt is that description?

Aren’t those the moments, the perfect times that we need to be thankful for? How often do forget to say thanks, when He gives us what we asked for?

It’s not easy, but I always try to understand why I got a “No” or a “Not right now” instead and to be thankful for those times as well. I have to trust that God’s answers are always perfect even when I don’t understand why. If I trust Him, then I know that His answers to those questions will be revealed later. (Related article: Why in the world should I be thankful? )

So, what did I learn from this? I have found that I need to be thankful all day, every day. I give thanks because it keeps me going and brings me joy and peace. I can’t control what others do and that is hard but I can be grateful for the life given to me and that is something that I can share with others.

What can you gain from this? When you are thankful, then you learn to be more grateful and caring to those around you. You may even start to see things in a brighter light than you did before. You now have “an attitude of gratitude”. Who doesn’t want that in their life?