Let Gratitude Lead the Way

“I will give thanks to you, Lord, with all my heart;
    I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.
 I will be glad and rejoice in you;
    I will sing the praises of your name, O Most High.”  Psalm 9:1-2

Gratitude pops up this time of year, as a one-day holiday shifts our focus to giving thanks.  I love Thanksgiving, it is my favorite holiday.  In Mammoth, this time of year brings snow that sets the tone for a new season, winter is around the corner!  Each year I ask myself this question:  Why don’t we make every day Thanksgiving?

Psalm 9 reminds us to give thanks to God, with all our hearts.  But what if we don’t feel like it?  Maybe Thanksgiving isn’t your favorite holiday, maybe this has been a very difficult year for you.  One more question, how do we let gratitude lead the way, when we are facing huge disappointments in our lives?

On my journey of life, some seasons have been filled with immense joy, but several seasons have represented losses.  Mourning seasons can be drenched with despair, as we desperately try to ‘swim’ out of the pain within our hearts, minds and souls.  I can tell you that I have tried to ‘swim’ to the top, to the edge, where ‘water ends’, and oxygen fills my lungs with air.  I couldn’t do it by myself; Jesus grabbed my hand and pulled me to the clear blue sky.  He breathed life back into me, He held my pain in His hands.  It was in times of surrender to my Savior, when I finally put my own hands up, letting go of disappointment, that I watched my heavenly Father rescue me.  

Psalm 9 reveals to us that God does wonderful deeds.  Jesus wants to rescue us!  His heart for us is that we thrive, not just survive.  When I stop to thank Jesus for the moments, when He has pulled me out of painful seasons, the eyes of my heart open to see the redemption that He has graciously brought into my life! The light of Jesus shines through the dark moments in my life. (Reference Ephesians 1:18-21)

I truly believe that our Savior redeems every painful circumstance in our lives.  

There have been moments when I have had to give Jesus a ‘sacrifice of praise’; to worship when I really didn’t feel like it.  To sing with all my heart, like verse 2 reveals to us: “I will be glad and rejoice in you; I will sing the praises of your name, O Most High!”

Singing, praising, thanking Jesus for all the redemption moments in our lives; these actions are powerful.  When we let gratitude lead the way, the atmosphere within our hearts and minds does shift.  We gain new perspective, seeing disappointment as an opportunity for Jesus to do another good deed, to bring more redemption. Glimpses of hope for our futures surface, giving us something to look forward to.  Jesus steps forward with us, into a new season.