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The Key to a
Blessed Life
Scripture and tips to help you find gratitude even in difficult
times
by Elizabeth Peale Allen
It’s easy to give
thanks for the things we’re genuinely grateful for.
What’s hard, though, is to follow the words of Philippians 4:6, "Don’t
be anxious about anything; rather, bring up all of your requests to God in your
prayers and petitions, along with giving thanks."
Here are four areas
where it’s hard to be thankful, but doing so can enrich your life, your
relationship with God and help you live a blessed life.
Thankful for Fear
Fear is, well… scary!
Fear is, well… scary!
The Bible tells us
specifically, “Do not fear” (Isaiah 41:10) and that “perfect love drives
out fear” (1 John 4:18).
But since we’re not
perfect, fear is – and probably will be – part of our lives.
Knowing that God can
turn even the worst things to good means there’s something to be thankful for
even in fear.
For example, think
how quickly our hearts turn to God!
Deep anxiety and
terror can drive us to our knees far faster than contentment.
Thankful for Sorrows
“My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise” says the psalmist in Psalm 51:17.
“My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise” says the psalmist in Psalm 51:17.
Sorrows break our
hearts – and also the shells we build around them.
To become like
Christ, who was “a man of suffering, and familiar with pain” (Isaiah 53:3), we must accept our
sorrows and allow God to transform us through them.
Those who mourn are,
indeed, blessed (Matthew 5:4) because God “will wipe every tear from
their eyes” (Revelation 21:4).
This verse goes on to
tell us that, as Christians, we have a wonderful future in heaven to look
forward to.
“There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain.” For this, we can be
eternally thankful.
Thankful for Embarrassment
No one likes to be embarrassed. We regard humiliation as a bad experience, but in reality, humility is the path we must take to learn to “value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others” (Philippians 2:3-4).
No one likes to be embarrassed. We regard humiliation as a bad experience, but in reality, humility is the path we must take to learn to “value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others” (Philippians 2:3-4).
We can be thankful for embarrassing situations because they offer
us the opportunity to grow in self-knowledge. “When pride comes, then comes
disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom” (Proverbs 11:2).
Any path which makes
us wiser and more aware of how much pride we need to overcome is filled with
opportunities to be thankful.
Thankful for Hard-to-Forgive Situations
Being in a situation in which it’s hard to forgive others gives us the chance to practice Christ’s mandate to “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:44).
Being in a situation in which it’s hard to forgive others gives us the chance to practice Christ’s mandate to “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:44).
Our hearts grow stronger
as we become accustomed to responding to offenses with a merciful and forgiving
attitude.
Remember, we are called to forgive “not seven times,
but seventy-seven times” (Matthew 18:22).
Fortunately,
situations that are truly hard to forgive are infrequent for most of us.
Developing the habit
of practicing forgiveness in little things makes it easier for our hearts
to want to forgive when the big challenges arise.
So whatever your
circumstances today, let your prayer be: “I will give thanks to
you, Lord, with all my heart” (Psalm 9:1).
Elizabeth Peale Allen reminds us that staying focused
on our faith and on what God asks us to do is the best way to lift our spirits.
Guideposts is a nonprofit
organization dedicated to inspiring the world to believe that anything is
possible with hope, faith, and prayer
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