Gratitude Changes Everything

Sometimes it’s hard to be grateful.

When it seems as if everything is going against you, it’s sometimes hard to have gratitude. I’ve had those moments when it seems like nothing is going right, you’re waiting for the next shoe to drop, and you wonder, how in the world can I have gratitude in this moment when it seems like everything is falling apart?

But the problem is, often my gratitude is based on my circumstances, not rooted in the truth of God’s Word. Being grateful doesn’t change our circumstances or doesn’t change what we have, but it does change our view on our circumstances and what we have.

Even in my darkest of times, when I choose to see my struggles through a lens of gratitude, wouldn’t ya know it, I always find SOMETHING to be grateful for. Whether it be a person I met. I realize how things actually could’ve gone worse. What God protected me from. The simple meal I just ate. The clean water I just drank. The ability to take my next breath. There is always something.

So often we think about what we DON’T have, rather than what we do have. Why is that? Because we live life looking horizontally, rather than vertically.

My friend, if you aren’t happy with what you already have, how will having MORE, make even happier? If you aren’t happy with what you already own, do you think adding “this” will make you happier? For how long? How long will it take for you to want the next thing? And the next?

We have a sign that hangs in the middle of our home that says, “Gratitude turns what you have into enough”. For me, it is a daily reminder that more is not always better. Being able to look at what I already have, with an attitude of gratitude, reminds me that really, I have much more than I need. I have more than enough. So when I think I need more, all I have to do is remember what I do have, and that’s enough.

With Thanksgiving coming up this week, I hope you are able to recognize all that you do have and that more isn’t always better. More doesn’t always make us happier. Maybe for a moment, but it doesn’t last. Gratitude turns what we have into enough. Gratitude doesn’t change our circumstances or change what we have, but it does change our view on our circumstances and what we have. So this Thanksgiving, let’s stay focused and remember the countless blessings God has given us!