Ahh… yeah… sacrifice. There’s that word that’s so hard for us all. Me too.
And I started to wonder… about a sacrifice of thankfulness.
And sometimes it is, really, a sacrifice to praise and to thank God, isn’t it?
And then I wrote down this one question… “Are we living with a heart deeply affected by God’s mercies?”
Because all of this… breath in my lungs, food on my plate, medicine for pain, technology at my fingertips, safety to my destination, money in my wallet, running water in my home, a soft bed to lay my head on, good friends to rely on… all of these are mercies… great mercies… I’ve never deserved, but always depended on.
And I think about a few years ago when we lost power in our home for several days. Prior to the storm it was so simple to demonstrate my gratitude for electricity… for heat… for well-working appliances. But when we lost it all… it became more sacrificial to remain grateful in the mess. And just like God was inviting me in to further, deeper relationship with Him, I was provided the opportunity to stretch my faith by shifting my thankfulness to the family that selflessly opened up their home to us for 2 days while our power was restored.
An alternate route to the same destination.
Gratitude. Thankfulness.
Because being grateful when things are good is responsive. I am appropriately responding to God for His favor. Ahh… but remaining grateful when things are hard is authentically resigning my will and trading it in for His. It is surrender to a God who has already given FAR MORE than I ever deserve.
And then I wrote down this one question… “Are we living with a heart deeply affected by God’s mercies?”
Because all of this… breath in my lungs, food on my plate, medicine for pain, technology at my fingertips, safety to my destination, money in my wallet, running water in my home, a soft bed to lay my head on, good friends to rely on… all of these are mercies… great mercies… I’ve never deserved, but always depended on.
And I think about a few years ago when we lost power in our home for several days. Prior to the storm it was so simple to demonstrate my gratitude for electricity… for heat… for well-working appliances. But when we lost it all… it became more sacrificial to remain grateful in the mess. And just like God was inviting me in to further, deeper relationship with Him, I was provided the opportunity to stretch my faith by shifting my thankfulness to the family that selflessly opened up their home to us for 2 days while our power was restored.
An alternate route to the same destination.
Gratitude. Thankfulness.
Because being grateful when things are good is responsive. I am appropriately responding to God for His favor. Ahh… but remaining grateful when things are hard is authentically resigning my will and trading it in for His. It is surrender to a God who has already given FAR MORE than I ever deserve.
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