A Heart of Thankfulness versus a Heart of Complaining

As Thanksgiving is fast approaching, it gives us all a reminder to evaluate the blessings in our lives.  Some of you that may be reading this might be able to come up with a list as long as a child's Christmas list for the things you are grateful for.  Other readers may be going through a difficult time and find it challenging to come up with a healthy list.

My purpose in this post is to remind us all of the things we are to be thankful for.

Remember, there is always someone out there who would love to have your life!  You may be thinking of the financial bind you're in.  You may be desperately wanting to have children, but can't seem to conceive.  You may be experiencing the grief that comes with the loss of a loved one.   You may have even found out that you have cancer.  Yet, there is someone in this world who is worse off than you and would rather be in your shoes.

There are so many things that we have to be thankful for, but often, we tend to focus on the troubles in our lives.  Let's first look at some Scripture:

Psalm 100:4

"Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name."

 

Philippians 4:6

"Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God."

 

We are to enter prayer with God with thankfulness.  Always...so despite your troubles, I encourage you to always begin your prayers with thanksgiving.  Praise God first.  Often, when you begin thanking Him for all He has done, the troubles you are bringing to Him don't seem quite as big.

I started a prayer journal awhile back.  In the front of the journal are a list of things I have to be thankful for.  I pray this before taking my needs to God.  Let me tell you what, not only is this wonderful for memory, but it changes my spirit.  I realize when I'm tired and worn out from washing dishes, I can be thankful for that sink full!  If you're struggling with contentment, I encourage you to click here.

The second verse reminds us to be thankful in all things.  It's okay to ask God to heal you of cancer.  But it's not okay to be discontent if He chooses not to heal you.  In fact, you need to be thankful!

I know that's a bold statement and even though I'm writing about it, I can't imagine how difficult that must be.  Yet, I know that for those of us who know that God loves us, and He really wants what is best for our lives, we need to trust Him to take care of us. 

We have no comprehension of God's ways.  But we can trust that He will do what is best for our lives.  We just need to focus on Him and staying on His path.

That's how we can be thankful.  If you're struggling with depression, and you can't figure out why...did it ever occur to you that God could be using this time in your life to teach you something?

I'm the world's worst complainer.  I guess it comes natural to me.  When someone helps me with the dishes so I don't have to do them all to myself, I think thoughts of frustration because they didn't do it right.  How wrong of me.  I could be choosing to have a heart of gratitude for someone caring enough about me to try and help, and I'm concerned about it being done correctly over their intentions to help me. 

When something doesn't go exactly how I expected, I complain.  When anything is out of the norm, I complain.  Oh I may not always do it out loud, but God hears my thoughts.  He knows my heart.

Then, on days like today, I think about those who would love to be in my shoes.  Most days I have a hard time thinking of who would want to be in my shoes, but when I think about it, I have a pretty amazing life.

I want to show you some of my common complaints, and then I want to show you what I SHOULD be thinking or saying instead:
 

 

If the baby wakes up in the middle of the night, I should be grateful that my child is alive.  So many parents get sleep through the night, only to wake up the next morning to find their child not breathing.  They would have obviously given up an entire night of sleep for their child's safety.  I should be grateful to wake up to tend to a healthy child through the night.

We can take our circumstances and complain or we can have a heart of thanksgiving.  What good does the complaining do?  Actually, it probably takes time off of our lives.  But what it doesn't do is solve the problem.  It only makes us a person no one wants to be around.

We can take our troubles to God, but we need to accept His perfect Will.  We must trust that He has our best interest at heart.  Instead of asking Him to just heal my cancer...why not say something like: "God, I want to be healed of this cancer, but if You have a better plan for my life, that is what I ultimately want.  If you want me to endure this cancer, I pray that you help me to use it to show others to You.  I want to show others that I will serve You regardless of my present circumstances.  Give me the strength to follow through with Your perfect plan."

 

I know it's easier said than done.  But when I find myself complaining, I realize that it does nothing for my situation.  It actually makes it worse because it makes my mood worse! 

I don't just want to change the things that come out of my mouth, but I want to change my entire thought process.  It's hard when you've been thinking like this for so many years.  I want to learn to have a heart and mind of gratitude and not ungratefulness.

When having thoughts of discouragement and am tempted to complain, my goal is to think of the Cross.  Is what I'm battling worse than what Jesus endured on the Cross?  All of a sudden, I remember that I have a reason to be grateful, and it is greater than any problem I could be facing.

So, for those of you who tend to be optimistic even in the dark times, how do you do it?  Any tips?  I'd love to hear your words of encouragement!  Just leave me a comment below!  Hopefully, where I am weak, you are strong and vice versa.  May we learn from our sisters in Christ and begin to be what God wants us to be...not just to be better than most!

I look forward to hearing your words of encouragement!