Train Ourselves To Give Thanks

Hi everyone, good to see you again in 2021!

How has your year started? Are you all excited about the new things this year, or are you once again weighed down by the hectic life that has resumed?

Whatever the case, the Bible tells us:

“It is good to give thanks to the Lord.” <Ps 92:1; ESV>

“Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” <1 Th 5:18; NIV>

Thus, it is certainly good to start the new year with thanksgiving in our heart, so that this gratitude can be the strength and assurance in our heart as we move through the new year.

Now, why is a heart of thanksgiving so important?

Gratitude helps us see God’s wonder better.

A heart of thanksgiving is like a lens with which we use to see things. If everything we see is covered by a layer of gratitude, that is, if we can see a reason to give thanks in everything, then naturally, our joy will increase.

I’m not sure about you, but I am always amazed by people who can take good photographs. Even in very plain and common things and people, good photographers can spot the picture-worthy angles and details and snap beautiful shots. What they see are things that I usually miss out and won’t find fascinating, until I saw the photos they take. For example, what we may see is merely a piece of old furniture, or a dull street which we walk past every day, or a simple tree, an ordinary auntie/uncle, etc, but from their lens, they are able to capture beautiful smiles, innocent expressions, and out of the ordinary pictures. It is amazing how good photographers can see the beauty of those normal things which we don’t.

In the same way, thankfulness is the lens to help us see God’s amazing glory, sense His presence and confirm His work more clearly in our lives. Our lives may look dull, common, or even seem like a mess, but when we focus on the right angle, like how a photographer did, we can see beauty in the ordinary or mess. Thus, our perspective and focus is important.

However, gratitude is not something natural to us sinners.

Thus, we need to train ourselves to cultivate our eyes to see things to give thanks for. Sinners all need help and practice to grow a heart of thanksgiving. Because we are not grateful enough by nature. Instead, we sinners tend to be dissatisfied grumblers, easily jealous when we see others have it better than us, or easily tempted by greed to want more and more. Even though as Christians, we know we should count our blessings, yet it seems more natural for us to count our misfortunes and disappointments. We tend to notice our problems more easily than spot our blessings. Our fallen eyes are clouded by sin and Satan’s lies. Thus, to be able to spot God’s grace and blessings, we must be intentional. Counting problems crushes our souls but counting blessings revives us. Therefore, although we may feel very unnatural and reluctant at first to practice giving thanks, let’s still work on it, as it will bring us deeper joy and healing.

Train ourselves to give thanks.

Now, when we talk about training ourselves to give thanks, there is no easy formula. But there are a few things we can consider:

Be mindful of things that easily make us lose gratitude.

Certainly, Christians are not to deny or escape from reality, but an excessive focus on our problems and sufferings, or our disappointments in not getting what we want, or the sense of envy when we see what others have, will only make it harder for us to restore a heart of thanksgiving. True, the sufferings and disappointments are real, we cannot pretend they are not there, but when God tells us to give thanks, He is asking us to see beyond these problems and see His perfect will and faithful kindness, then anticipate the greater things He will accomplish even through our trials.

Look out for God’s grace through faith, not circumstances.

One good example of this is when Judah was attacked by her enemies, but Jehoshaphat king of Judah urged the people to give thanks to the Lord.

<2 Ch 20> 21 After consulting the people, Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the Lord and to praise him for the splendor of his holiness as they went out at the head of the army, saying:

“Give thanks to the Lord,
    for his love endures forever.”

22 As they began to sing and praise, the Lord set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and they were defeated.

It is important to note that the people of Judah actually thanked God even before they were delivered from their enemies. And amazingly, as they praised God, they saw their enemies defeated before them. Now, usually people can only give thanks after seeing good outcomes. But the people of Judah intentionally chose to give thanks and focus on what they had (which is, God on their side), rather than the threats facing them. Their thanksgiving was all the more beautiful because it was not due to cheerful circumstances, but it was based simply on their faith in the God who guided them in both prosperity and adversity. Now, this is something we need to train ourselves, to find reasons to give thanks through faith, not circumstances. For in good or bad situations, the loving God Almighty is still with us.

Practice, practice, practice.

Just as it also takes much practice for a photographer to train his eyes for details and polish his photo-taking skills, to cultivate gratitude is like building up a habit. Many many practices are needed, and with enough practices, the sense of gratitude can then really become like our second nature, where it is so easy for us to find reasons to give thanks. Though we tend to be forgetful and insensitive to God’s gracious work in our lives, the Holy Spirit is here to help us. Thus, ask the Holy Spirit to give us the sharp eyes of a “spiritual photographer”, so that we can better notice traces of God’s beautiful work in our lives and praise Him for that.