Cultivate thankfulness

Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other, in step with each other. None of this going off and doing your own thing. And cultivate thankfulness. Let the Word of Christ - the Message - have the run of the house. Give it plenty of room in your lives. Instruct and direct one another using good common sense. And sing, sing your hearts out to God! Let every detail in your lives - words, actions, whatever - be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way. Colossians 3:15-17 (MSG)

The phrase 'cultivate thankfulness' suggests to me that sometimes 'thankfulness' isn't the attitude we have in response to some circumstances. Rather, thankfulness is an attitude that we sometimes need to choose to have. Sometimes, we may have to learn how to be thankful, to indeed learn how to 'thank God the Father every step of the way.'

In my own life, there have been many times when undesirable circumstances have been thrust upon me, and thankfulness has certainly not been the attitude that I have first adopted.  Often I have initially responded with disappointment, anger and fear. However what I have found, is that if I take the time to take the time to seek God, to open my bible and read what God has to say about the circumstance and 'let the Word of Christ have the run of my house'  I can start on the path of cultivating thankfulness.

One time that comes to mind is when our daughter was first diagnosed with a brain tumour. The first 2 days were full of shock, tears, anger and crying out to God. On day 3, I clearly remember an early morning ride on my bike, screaming out to God as I rode, asking him why this is happening to our beautiful 3 year old girl. Thirty minutes later when I returned home from my ride, I had come to a place where I could quietly journal all I had to be thankful for in this devastating circumstance. I managed to write a list of 22 things that I was thankful for. Some were mundane, such as snacks for school lunches were made and in the freezer. Some were critical, such as people he had surrounded us to ensure our daughter got the best care possible. This list enabled me to see that despite our circumstances, God was in the midst, He had gone before us, He had made a way for us to go through the circumstance and come out the other side. 

Question for today, is there a circumstance that you are facing that you are finding is difficult to be thankful for? Why not ask Jesus to help you cultivate thankfulness in this circumstance? Ask Him to direct you to scripture in His word to encourage you at this time.