Thursday

I Cried Because I Had No Shoes

photo credit: Kristen Hatcher
My granny used to say, "I cried because I had no shoes, until I met a man who had no feet." It was her way of reminding me to be thankful for what I had instead of complaining about what I lacked.

Thankfulness is a very biblical concept. The apostle Paul, in 1 Thessalonians 5:18, reminds us to give thanks "in everything." Notice that he didn't say to give thanks for everything, but in everything. This seemingly insignificant little preposition conveys a world of meaning.

Giving thanks in everything means I don't have to deny the harsh reality that some parts of life are difficult, cruel, tragic, and sad.

Giving thanks in everything means I acknowledge that I serve God, not that He serves me. The opposite of thankfulness, ingratitude, implies that God isn't serving me well enough. It carries with it the expectation that God owes me a certain standard of comfort, provision, and satisfaction. When He fails to live up to my standards, I am free to complain.

The truth is that God owes me nothing. The late Dr. Jerry Falwell often said, "If God never did another thing for me after he saved me, I would still be eternally in his debt." Dr. Fallwell understood thankfulness.

Giving thanks in everything means instead of looking outward at my circumstances, I look upward to see what God is doing in my life. My pastor once shared words of wisdom he received from a woman diagnosed with cancer. "Every day I look around to see evidences of God's care for me," she told him. When we choose to look for God's graces toward us, we never fail to find them.

Giving thanks in everything changes nothing about my circumstances but everything about my heart. It helps me place my trust in my heavenly Father who knows exactly what I need and exactly what I don't need. Choosing thankfulness helps me humbly submit my will to God's, knowing that He will withhold no good thing from me. Because He promises to meet all my needs "according to His riches and glory," I can rest assured that if God hasn't provided it, I don't need it.

Today I choose to give thanks in everything. Will you join me?  I invite you to leave a comment below telling me what you are thankful for today.

Here is a portion of my thankful list: 

I am thankful for:


sunshine
a warm bed
kind friends
a church family
purpose
chocolate covered almonds
the Holy Spirit's constant companionship
words of encouragement
daughters
answered prayers
unanswered prayers, for they are the answered prayers of tomorrow
music
plumbing
hope
28 years of marriage 
words
salvation
maple walnut ice cream
warm puppies
freedom





If you enjoyed this post, why not subscribe? I'll send you twice-weekly 5-minute devotions to help nourish your soul. 
Because women need to connect with God in the craziness of life. 

Enter your email address and VALIDATE the Feedburner email sent to your inbox.



Delivered by FeedBurner











Hungry for God is on Facebook! Will you take a moment and LIKE my page? CLICK HERE to help HFG share 5-minute devotions.


 Hungry for God Starving for Time
You want to connect with God, but in the craziness of life, it’s just not happening. You want practical, biblical answers to situations you face every day, but you don’t have hours to pore over Scripture.

You need a resource that answers the questions you’re afraid to ask out loud. Questions like:

• Is my situation hopeless?
• If God already knows what he’s going to do, why bother to pray? 
• Why have you allowed this to happen to me? 
• No one appreciates what I do. Why shouldn’t I quit? 

Each devotion begins with a Facetime question and ends with a biblical answer wrapped in a modern day parable. Like a spiritual power bar, Hungry for God … Starving for Time is packed with enough scriptural nutrition to get you through the day. Wherever you are—in break rooms, carpool lines, or wherever you can snatch five minutes of quiet reflection—Hungry for God … Starving for Time, 5-Minute Devotions for Busy Women is for you.


 

 

6 comments:

  1. I am thankful for today's sunshine, tomorrow's rain, a loving husband, a crazy sister, two brothers, five sons and grandchildren, blessings pressed down, shaken and given with God's great measure.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anna, just reading your thankful list blessed me! Thank you for sharing it.

      Delete
  2. Love these lines: "Giving thanks in everything means I acknowledge that I serve God, not that He serves me. The opposite of thankfulness, ingratitude, implies that God isn't serving me well enough."
    I need to be reminded of this daily. Thanks for helping me out today! : )

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'm thankful that God blessed me to wake up each morning and I'm still breathing. I'm thankful God blessing my life and to be cancer free 2years 4months thankful for my life health and strength for my family my children my grandchildren most of all I'm thankful for God saving me and giving me his holy spirit.🙏👏👏😇😊

    ReplyDelete
  4. Ms. Lori,My name is Al,
    All I can say is wow. I came across this page by accident, or maybe it was God's will that I did. After reading it in its entirety, I must tell you that I am truly moved.
    I never though of for everything, as opposed to in everything. Wow, does that make me awaken from a dark sleep.
    I can see now, that I have been asleep for a long time. I cannot tell you how much this reading has meant to me. I will now, and always look at my life in this way.
    I will try , when I can, to show others the way. In todays times, it is very difficult to reach people. I can try right?

    I was talking to a good friend who knows the Bible very well. As we talked through the evening we talked about faith, having faith in, and expectations that we sometimes expect. Wow, this article is differently an amazing eye opener.It opened my eyes , my ears, and my heart. Shows me to look in a new and promising direction.

    Thank you so much for this wonderful article.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous9:32 AM

    I am thankful for my legs

    ReplyDelete

Did this devotion speak to you? I'd love to hear your thoughts. Leave a comment below and join the conversation.