Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.  1 Thessalonians 5:18 NLT

Could you come up with one-thousand things to be thankful for? Ann Voskamp suggests you try it!

A million and a half people bought VosKamp’s book called, One Thousand Gifts.   The book challenges you to get a notebook and begin recording all the small but daily gifts in your life. I kept at it until my list topped a thousand…and the exercise had a huge effect on my eyesight of my soul.

When you’re really on the hunt for God’s blessings in your life you begin to see them everywhere: rain-sweetened air, pineapple, a long hug from my son, the silly family pet, my neighbor’s purple vine. After I developed the “eyesight” to see them, the first thing I learned is that God’s gifts to me are many and they’re continuously given.

I also learned that His gifts are present even in the midst of trying circum-stances. “Be thankful in all circumstances,” Scripture says (1 Thessalonians 5:18) and that little word in is the game-changer. The hard, the painful times are as much of the journey as the joy and the blessings. I can thank Him in my circumstances.

“Thanksgiving in all things accepts the deep mystery of God through everything,” Voskamp writes in her blog. “We give thanks to God not because of how we feel but because of Who He is. No amount of regret changes the past, no amount of anxiety changes the future, but any amount of gratitude changes the present. In stressful times, seek God. In painful times, praise God. In the terrible times, trust God. And at all times…Thank God.”

 

Resource reading: James 1:16-18