How can you…
Have you ever wonder how can you be grateful? There are so many things that are going on in this world of ours and even within our own lives. So how possibly can we be grateful? Someone just lost his or her job maybe that is you. There are some people that have had someone very dear and near to their heart pass away. And there are some whose physical body has given up. There are some that are living each day with someone they hold near and dear to their heart that is not well. And they never know from one day to the next if they will be there. There are so many sorrows in this world that I can’t even mention all of them here. But how is it possible to be grateful through the mist of so many depressing circumstances?
God’s lesson book
God gives us so many examples in nature. Being grateful reminds me of my daughter’s dog. Although the dog belongs to her he loves me the most. I go to sit down in the living room and I get 2 dogs that run and jump on my lap and start to quarrel over who gets to sit there. Eventually, the one ends up sitting curled around my neck on the back of the couch. And my daughter’s dog Cuddles snuggles as close as he can get next to my lap or on my lap if I don’t have something laying on it.
Cuddles shows me many things. He isn’t perfect but I often think that the things he does do wrong are so small compared to what we may do. You can tell when he is sad or when he is grateful. When he is happy it is like he has a smile on his face. His whole countenance just glows. If you have a pet I am sure you know what I am talking about. He doesn’t want much except to be fed and loved. I would say that he doesn’t sit around worrying about whether or not we are going to feed him or love him. But I can see the sadness in his eyes when I ignore him or shove him away when I am too busy.
Cuddles knows when I am sad, angry, or happy and he cares. He tries to comfort and calm me by trying to nuzzle me. Or when I am happy he wants to be a part of those happenings as well. He wants to go with me everywhere I go and can often be underfoot.
When I take a shower he comes into the bathroom with me. He loves it when I lay down my housecoat for him to lie on. But if I forget he doesn’t complain. He just curls up on the bare floor and is content. I can see the sadness in his eyes when I ignore him but he still tries to stay as close as possible. He doesn’t seem to worry when I forget to feed him, he seems as happy as always to be with me. When I realize I forgot I feel so bad but he just seems to be grateful just to have me present.
…Thinking…
When I gave it some thought it made me think of God. I am kind of like God to Cuddles. He has to trust me to take care of him, feed him, and love him. Cuddles loves me no matter what I seem to do. He must think I love him enough to not let him starve to death or leave him out in the cold.
Of course, there is a difference between God and me. God is perfect in every way. He as perfect love for us. My love for Cuddles is not perfect. God never shoves us away because He doesn’t have time for us. He is always there. But even though He is always there we don’t always think He is. Sometimes we feel that he has abandoned us. We also feel like we are being “shoved” away by Him because of the trials that He allows to come into our lives.
We need to have the love and trust that Cuddles has for me for God. Cuddles seems to know when he has done something that upsets me. Do we realize the pain that we bring to our Lord when we do some of the things that we do? And do we even care? Every time we do things in our lives we should have so much love for God that we wouldn’t want to hurt Him.
We need to put our trust in God so fully that no matter what happens we can still be grateful. Because we know that He loves us so much we can trust Him for the outcome. Just like Cuddles always wants to be with me and follows me where ever I go we need to do the same with God. The great thing with God, He will never consider us in the way or underfoot. We need to “cuddle” up as close as we can get to Him and stay connected.
Grateful
It seems as Christians we have so much to be grateful for. I think if Cuddles could talk he would talk only about the things that he loves about me and how grateful he is for my love. The love he feels out ways any bad that may come his way.
My biggest gratefulness this Thanksgiving is God’s unlimited, unending love. It doesn’t matter what I do He still loves me. But He loves me so much that He doesn’t want to see me stay where I am. He wants me to grow. And I can trust Him to take care for me. He is never late with answering my prayers although it may feel like it to me. I can trust Him fully. It may not feel like it but I can claim His promises and know by faith that He will fulfill them.
I am grateful for family. As each year passes I realize how grateful I am for parents that love God. And I am grateful each day that I have them. So each Thanksgiving that comes I am so grateful to still have them with me. My father has been a spiritual guide for me. And I am grateful for each day that the Lord continues to sustain him. Because each day I never know if he will still be here. I try not to think of these things but be grateful for each day God gives me with him.
I am so grateful for friends. Friends can bring such love and comfort through hard times. And I am grateful for the prayers that ascend to the Father on the behalf of my family and me. Knowing that others are praying for you is such a comfort.
I think that often we don’t look at the everyday blessings and give thanks. We just seem to expect it. I am grateful for every breath I take, a roof over my head, food on the table, being able to walk, see, and hear etc. There are so many things that I could write down but I think you get the idea. We need to make an effort toward thinking about the positive things that God has blessed us with instead of always focusing on the negative things that may happen. God is so good.
Dear Father,
Thank You for another day of life. I am so grateful to You for all you have done in my life. I know that all things work together for good. You have blessed my life with great things and I pray You will help me to focus upon those things rather than the negative things. Thank You for nature and the lessons that You teach through it.
In Jesus Name,
Amen
Make sure to be grateful and not just on Thanksgiving. Be grateful all year long.
Love you all! And have a great Thanksgiving!
What is something that you are grateful for? Please comment below. Let’s see how many things we can get listed.