For me, a broken heart came from leaving Slovenia, a country I had grown to love after spending two years there. Although I believed God had sent me there, circumstances forced me to leave, and I couldn’t understand why. It felt like a door had slammed shut, and I cried out to God, unable to see His care in this painful situation.
My friend Jodi asked if I had been able to be thankful. I shared that I thanked God every day for my family and blessings, but she meant being thankful for my circumstances, even in disappointment. She reminded me of Bill Bright’s words: “The best way to demonstrate faith is to say ‘thank you.’”
Bill Bright emphasized 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, which calls us to be thankful in all circumstances. At the time, I couldn’t see anything to be thankful for, but Jodi helped me understand that gratitude comes from focusing on what we know is true about God, not our circumstances.
Gratitude often requires humility and goes against our emotions. Joni Eareckson Tada writes in More Precious Than Silver: “Such gratitude involves cost and sacrifice—it costs your logic and you sacrifice your pride.”
God doesn’t ask us to be thankful for our circumstances but to be thankful in them. When I chose to give thanks, peace followed.
Is there something in your life that makes gratitude difficult? How can you give thanks in your circumstances, even when you can’t see anything good?
