Have you noticed that when November comes, people get in the mood to be more thankful? The month of November specifically welcomes and encourages “Thankfulness.” And, I love that! You see it everywhere; “Grateful, Thankful, Blessed.” And just like that, it seems as though everyone around me is sharing their 30 different ways and days of being thankful.
I don't know about you, but I can't stop thinking about the people who are feeling lost, hurt and are so deep in their despair that hopelessness consumes them. I’m sure “Thankfulness” seems out of reach.
So, out of curiosity, I took a poll on my Instagram posing the question “Is it hard for you to be thankful this season?”
40% responded that it was hard for them to be thankful.
I had a few personal replies saying it was hard to be thankful given certain circumstances. Mind you, I don’t have thousands of followers, so that percentage was higher than I had expected!
I challenged myself these last few weeks and dug into what “Thankfulness” means.
Here is what I found:
Thankfulness is an attitude of the heart.
Once I positioned my heart to find things to be thankful for, it only produced more joy!
Thankfulness is a biblical command.
God tells us to “Give Thanks” so that we can look past the things that frustrate, anger, disappoint, discourage, sadden and depress us so that we can see His grace! When we trust and see His grace, a true loving thankfulness begins to arise and it pushes all of the negativity away and is replaced with His peace, whatever our circumstances.
Ingratitude holds us back.
It is a downward spiral that takes me back to old and harmful emotions. Like selfishness, pride, anger… the list goes on. And honestly, I don’t want to be held back from the next breakthrough.
Friends, it doesn’t need to be November for us to practice Thanksgiving. I want to challenge you to start your day by saying 3 things you are thankful for. Write them down if you’d like! And just see how your life starts to transform and how it infiltrates into the lives of those around you.
Here are a few verses that really resonated with my heart this month and gave “Thanks” a new perspective. I hope they encourage you as well.
“I am always thanking my God for you because he has given you such free and open access to his grace through your union with Jesus, the Messiah.” 1 Corinthians 1:4 TPT
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." Philippians 4:6 NIV
“For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.” 1 Timothy 4:4-5 ESV
~ Stefanie Rodriguez
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