Grateful and Thankful
I have found it hard to stay offended at someone’s behavior when I discipline myself into a posture of being thankful for them.
While it is easy to look at everything wrong with a person or whine about what is negative in a situation, gratitude and thanksgiving can quickly change the situation for us. I found this eye-opening poem by Red Foley entitled “Oh God, Forgive Me When I Whine” to share with you:
“Today upon a bus, I saw
A lovely maid with golden hair;
I envied her — she seemed so gay
And oh, I wished I were so fair.
When suddenly she rose to leave,
I saw her hobble down the aisle,
She had one foot and wore a crutch,
But as she passed, a smile.
Oh, God, forgive me when I whine;
I have two feet — the world is mine.
And when I stopped to buy some sweets,
The lad who served me had such charm;
He seemed to radiate good cheer,
His manner was so kind and warm.
I said, "It's nice to deal with you,
Such courtesy I seldom find."
He turned and said, "Oh, thank you, sir!"
And I saw that he was blind.
Oh, God, forgive me when I whine;
I have two eyes — the world is mine.
Then, when walking down the street,
I saw a child with eyes of blue.
He stood and watched the others play;
It seemed he knew not what to do,
I stopped a moment, then I said:
‘Why don't you join the others, dear?’
He looked ahead without a word,
And then I knew; He could not hear.
Oh, God, forgive me when I whine;
I have two ears — the world is mine.
With feet to take me where I’d go,
With eyes to see the sunset’s glow,
With ears to hear what I should know:
I’m blessed indeed. The world is mine;
Oh, God, forgive me when I whine.” [1]
I think we start to whine and complain when we forget our benefits and blessings as children of God. The psalmist King David admonished his soul, or his heart, to praise the Lord and not to forget all the blessings he enjoyed:
“Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits—who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.” (Psalm 103:1–5 NIV) (emphasis mine)
Yes! We have so many things to praise God for right now. We all need to listen to David’s warning and stop, look, and listen to our hearts, calling us to thank God. To praise the Lord is to express your awe and gratitude in words of thanksgiving. The benefit of this action is that your ears will hear and remind your heart of your blessed status in God’s kingdom. Instead of listening to the whining complaints of a hostile world, you can quicken your heart with shouts of praise!
When wrong inputs shape the condition of your heart, it can become challenging to discern God’s beauty and presence in the world around you.
“You’re blessed when you get your inside world—your mind and heart—put right. Then you can see God in the outside world.” (Matthew 5:8 MSG)
When you can see God, or the presence of His redemptive activity, in the world around you, it becomes easy to praise and worship God. You begin to see Him at work in your past and present, and you expect Him to continue His gracious work in your future. That perspective leads to gratitude. Think about this definition and thoughts from an article on the Psychology Today website: [2]
“Gratitude is ‘the quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness.’ Millennia ago, Cicero proclaimed that gratitude was the ‘mother of all virtues.’ Seneca spoke of gratitude as being a fundamental motivational drive that was critical for building interpersonal relationships.”
If we don’t stop, look, and listen to our hearts long enough to realize that we should be grateful and appreciative, we are heading in the wrong direction.
[1] Curan, Michael Anthony. “God Forgive Me When I Whine.” Medium, Medium, 14 July 2018, www.medium.com/@michaelanthonycuran/god-forgive-when-i-whine-e338be3daf86.
[2] Bergland, Christopher. “Small Acts of Generosity and the Neuroscience of Gratitude.” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, 20 Oct. 2015, www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-athletes-way/201510/small-acts-generosity-and-the-neuroscience-gratitude.
Excerpted from:
Stop Look Listen (To Your Heart) (Study Guide Included)
Corrie ten Boom once said that if the devil can’t make you bad, he’ll make you busy. There is great truth in that. As you take a moment to look around, you will notice many people in that place of hurried pursuit. Sadly, they are so preoccupied that they don’t see all the goodness God has prepared for them.
Join me in this book as we learn to stop, look, and listen to our hearts. I believe that God is calling us from our hearts. He calls us to pause in at least seven sacred ways to secure the best possible outcomes in our lives. We can hear what is next and best for us as we talk to God. We can reset and refresh as we commit to pausing for 24 hours each week. As we regain the proper perspective, we can lean into stillness and quietness to hear the holy whispers of God. We will once again feel compassion for others in need. We will receive and release God’s soothing gift of forgiveness. Finally, we will learn to praise God as gratitude reigns in our hearts!
You, too, can stop, look, and listen to your heart!