Offering Gratitude

November 20, 2018

As we near Thanksgiving and begin to enter the holiday season, it can be easy to get wrapped up in the busyness of it all. From coordinating travel plans and buying gifts for loved ones, to attending countless holiday parties and trying to make sure everything is “just right” for special family gatherings. When it all adds up, it can be downright stressful! Conversely, many individuals also feel stress this time of year, but it is rooted in feelings of loneliness or lacking, be it financial inadequacy or not having loved ones nearby to celebrate with during the season.
It is important that throughout the year, and especially during the next few months, we take a moment to stop… pause… and thank God for the many blessings He provides us with every day. Life has its ups and downs, its challenges and joys, but in the midst of it all He is with us and will lift us back up when we embody a true spirit of gratitude.
Giving thanks to God for all of his many blessings is one of the most distinctive marks of a believer. Even during trials and tribulations when nothing seems to be going right, we must remember that God is good. He has a plan and He is doing great things in all of our lives – we just have to open our hearts and eyes to see His many blessings. This is when our contentment and fulfillment with the present moment is restored.
 

“The LORD is my strength and my shield;

in him my heart trusts, and I am helped;

my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him.”

– Psalm 28:7