Sometimes, the difference between complaining and giving thanks isn’t what happened to us. It’s what we choose to see. A glass can be half empty or half full. The circumstances haven’t changed. Only our perspective has.
Paul tells us in Colossians 2:7 that when our lives are rooted in Christ, we will “overflow with thankfulness.”
Overflow.
That’s an interesting word.
Paul doesn’t say we’ll occasionally find something to be thankful for. He says thankfulness can overflow from our lives, but how do we overflow with thankfulness when life isn’t going the way we hoped?
We learn to look for the blessings.
There was an old Peanuts cartoon in which Charlie Brown feeds Snoopy on Thanksgiving Day. Snoopy looks at his bowl of ordinary dog food and thinks about everyone else enjoying a Thanksgiving feast.
Then he reminds himself, “At least I’m not the turkey.”
Even Snoopy found something to be thankful for!
Sometimes we have to look a little harder to find our reasons for gratitude.
Remember the tree that fell in our neighbor’s yard?
It was certainly unexpected. A large evergreen tree came crashing down during a windy day.
But thankfully, it landed almost perfectly. It fell across our neighbor’s yard and into ours, and the only thing it hit was an old, ugly bush at the corner of our yard.
We had been wanting that bush removed.
The tree took care of it.
One less thing on the to-do list!
The fallen tree didn’t change.
The circumstances didn’t change.
But our perspective changed.
And sometimes that’s what thankfulness does.
It doesn’t necessarily change our circumstances, but it changes the way we see them.
There will be days when the wind is blowing, the plans aren’t working, and life feels more like a storm than a sunny afternoon.
On those days, don’t overlook the blessings because you’re focused on the problems.
Look around…
- Look for God’s goodness.
- Look for his faithfulness.
- Look for the little things that might otherwise go unnoticed.
And then give thanks.
There is always a reason to be thankful.
Today, challenge yourself to find three things—big or small—that you can thank God for.
You might be surprised how quickly your list grows.
And as you look for reasons to be thankful, you may discover that thankfulness isn’t just something you do.
It becomes the way you see.
Thanks for reading.
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