Keep Your Sense of Gratitude

'...Forget not all His benefits.' Psalm 103:2 NKJV

Wow is all we could say as we rushed to the hospital. We had just gotten a call from the Keever family that their son Josh had just got hit by a car. If you are a parent you know the feeling we had for Brad and Carrie. That feeling of pain and compassion for them as they rushed from work wondering how their son was. So we prayed and gave thanks to God that he would take of Josh and that his will be done. Pastor why give thanks? This situation was in His control anyway, why not thank him for the outcome. We believed that Josh would be ok and that our Gods name would be glorified as to Josh's recovery. What a testimony in this young mans life that when all the tests came back...not a broken bone or internal injury as I write this. Yes he will be very sore and very bruised and the recovery will take some time. But to Gods glory he's alive and well. That's why we can't lose site of our gratitude to God in how he takes care of us in every situation. In life when we lose that sense of gratitude for what God does for us, we lose site of the big picture. Author Philip Yancey writes, 'remember my first visit to Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park, rings of...tourists surrounded the geyser... A large, digital clock stood beside the spot, predicting...the next eruption. My wife and I passed the countdown in the dining room of Old Faithful Inn... When the geyser went off, we tourists oohed and aahed and clicked our cameras; a few spontaneously applauded. But, glancing back...I saw that not one single waiter or busboy...looked out the huge windows. Old Faithful, grown entirely too familiar, had lost its power to impress them.' So here's the question: Why do we lose our sense of gratitude and begin to overlook God's goodness and protection in our lives?

For three reasons:

(1) Problems. If you close one eye and hold a coin close enough to your other eye, you can actually block out the light of the sun. Getting the point?
(2) Pressures. Sometimes the perks we thought would bring us pleasure end up wearing us down.
(3) People. When they disappoint us we turn sour and forget all that God has done for us. What's the solution? 'The unfailing love of the Lord never ends...Great is His faithfulness; His mercies begin afresh each morning.' (Lamentations 3:22-23 NLT) God's mercies begin each morning, and your gratitude should too. Indeed, your days should be saturated in it. Continual gratitude comes from looking beyond your blessings to their unfailing source, the Lord. His love, His faithfulness and His mercy are already at work when your eyes open each day. You are loved!