One day the parents of a young soldier who died in battle came to their pastor asking to give a monetary gift in memory of their son. The pastor said, “That’s a great idea!” The next Sunday they told the church of the gift given in memory of their son. On the way home from church, another couple was talking about this and the husband said to his wife, “Why don’t we give a gift because of our son?” She said, “But our son didn’t die in any conflict! Our son is still alive!” Her husband said, “That’s all the more reason we ought to give in thanks to God.”
This is an example of growing in gratitude. They were reminded by the first couple they should be expressing gratitude for their blessings!
We grow in our gratitude when we remember all the wonderful ways God has blessed us and then express our thanks to God for those blessings. As the old hymn says, “Count your blessings; name them one by one. Count your many blessings and see what God has done!”
We need to be grateful for the difficult things we go through also because “… we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28)
Corrie Ten Boom, in The Hiding Place, tells about how she and her sister, Betsy, had just been transferred to Ravensbruck, the worst German prison camp they’d seen. Upon entering the barracks, they found them extremely overcrowded and flea-infested. Their Scripture reading that morning in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 reminded them to “rejoice always, pray constantly, and give thanks in all circumstances.” Betsy told Corrie to thank the Lord for every detail of their new living quarters. Corrie at first flatly refused to give thanks for the fleas, but Betsy persisted. She finally succumbed. During the months spent at that camp, they were surprised to find how openly they could hold Bible studies and prayer meetings without guard interference. Several months later they learned the guards would not enter barracks because of the fleas.
Corrie had to grow in gratitude. It wasn’t easy to be thankful always and for everything trusting God to be using it for her good.
How are we doing? Are we growing in gratitude? Do we need to slow down a minute so we can inventory our many blessings – naming them one by one? Do we thank God for our warm beds, our wonderful spouses, parents, etc? Do we need to be reminded that all things work to our good; even things that don’t make sense (fleas)?
