The worldwide pandemic has stirred up a lot of emotions for many of us: fear, confusion, anxiety, anger, chaos to name a few. But how about feelings of gratitude?
...Anyone? ...Bueller?
Since we shut down - and I'm talking literally the first day - I have been receiving lessons of gratitude from those around me which has given me a much more pleasant outlook as this thing continues to drag on.
The very first day we shut down (before anyone really grasped the seriousness of it all), I joined my prayer group, and we met in person (don't judge; no one knew yet). The most striking thing for me during that first meeting was hearing these women pray and thank God for their blessings before they did anything else. Meanwhile, the entire world was shut down, and these women were thanking God. But I'll tell you what: it changed my perspective almost immediately.
The next day at the church where I work, the pastor did a Q&A during her sermon and asked the congregation to look at what God had given them instead of what was taken away. At that point, I had just - the week before - closed my school's first musical production which had taken up my entire life, and I was totally burnt out. I was grateful for the time I was "forced" to spend with my family, who I had hardly seen because my work schedule was ridiculous. I was grateful that the pandemic happened at this time in history when technology allowed for my teaching job to continue virtually. When this seemingly strange question was posed to me, I was able to immediately pick out what God had given me.
Don't get me wrong. I continue to struggle with the idea of finding ways to thank God during hard times, but these two events made it possible for me to even consider it. When I do remember to pray (we're all a work-in-progress, friends), I find myself first thanking God and then asking God.
It was truly a novel concept for me until I heard the women in my prayer group doing it. I mean, God is all-powerful, right? He can just fix all the problems we bring Him, and then we can thank Him for it later. That's all well and good, but what does that really say about our relationship with God? If all we're doing is asking, asking, asking, how does that cultivate our relationship?
We don't (or shouldn't) constantly ask our spouses/parents/friends to do things for us without giving them something back in return. If we did that, we'd soon notice those relationships would fall apart because the needs of the other person are not being met. It's not a fair relationship, and any self-respecting person wouldn't continue to stick around. Most of us are aware of this is in our personal relationships and will engage in the natural give and take to allow the relationship to continue. So, why should we allow the opposite in our relationship with the Lord?
The great thing about God is that He isn't going anywhere no matter how selfish we are in our asking. But when we stop to thank Him before we ask for anything, the blessings overflow because He knows we're invested. It becomes easier for us to recognize when we've been blessed which, in turn, brings more joy to our lives. It took me many years, but I've finally come to that conclusion. As I said, I'm still working on it, and I think I will always have to, but it's definitely easier now.
My goal with this playlist is to celebrate the blessings God bestows on us, to recognize all He's done and continues to do - no matter how bleak the circumstances may seem. I hope that as you listen to this you are filled with thanksgiving for the blessings in your life and that, maybe, it will be a little bit easier moving forward for you to thank God first and ask God second.
Click HERE to listen on Spotify.
Click HERE to listen on YouTube.
*Please note the song versions on these playlists differ slightly because of what was available on each platform.
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