Daily Gratitude
Isn’t getting sick the worst? Of course, no one likes to feel under the weather, but there is one thing about being sick that I actually enjoy. It’s the day you’ve turned the corner and everything is starting to feel normal again. Having just experienced the sore throat or the upset stomach, I now have a newfound appreciation for being healthy.
Why does it take us experiencing loss in order to appreciate what we have? The monotony of our day-to-day lives is partially to blame here. But the larger issue, I believe, is we simply lose attention. We stop practicing gratitude. We fall out of practice at taking time to realize how awesome life truly is.
Here’s an example. When I was younger, I used to overflow with excitement any time I got to go over to a friend’s house that had a pool. It was like Christmas morning. The jubilation I experienced was unmatched when my parents shared with my sister and I that they were going to be building a pool in our very own backyard. We could go swimming whenever we wanted to. This was the best news ever!
The construction wrapped up about a month before summer hit and the weather was prime for pool days. I was going to swim every day. And I did swim – for the first few days. Before long, the excitement started to wear off. The accessibility, although amazing, began to detract from my original outburst of glee. Fast forward about two decades later and I rarely find myself using the jacuzzi, let alone jumping in the deep end.
The exciting thing became the normal thing and the normal thing is very easy to take for granted. I did this with our pool, I do this with my health and I do it with my faith. How can we combat this? I believe the answer lies in practicing gratitude – being thankful.
Paul exhorts us, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18). The charge to thanksgiving seems to be more of a practice than it is an overflow. Sure, there are times when someone blesses us with such generosity that we can’t help but bubble forth gratitude.
Biblically we are charged to be thankful, yes with others, but especially towards the Lord. He has saved us from our sin by sacrificing His own life so that we may live. This is an amazing truth that begins to feel all too normal with time.
How do we stay awake spiritually? We practice gratitude. There are many ways to step into this. For some they have a gratitude notebook, others spend a few minutes saying out loud in prayer the things they’re thankful for, you may have your own way. Whatever it looks like, it’s imperative that we have a practice. Because, again, we are so quick to forget.
The Israelites in the Old Testament ended up traveling the wilderness for 40 years because they forgot the mighty deeds the Lord did for them. Time and time again they were charged to practice remembrance and to their detriment they simply forgot.
So, how do we not? We practice remembering. We bring to our minds all the amazing things that have been done for us. Let’s practice living out of a daily state of gratitude – not needing to be sick to appreciate the normal.
