I was up the other night praying about a frustrating situation. It’s not really a bad thing, just something that’s inconvenient. As I prayed, the Holy Spirit whispered to my heart. I knew the next words of my prayer needed to be thanks for the situation and only thanks.
So I started thanking the Lord. And the more I thanked Him, the more the blessings, joys, and delights dwarfed the inconveniences and any frustrations.
Even more, I could see how much I’ve taken for granted and maybe how much blessing I’ve missed out on or not appreciated because I had focused on the inconvenience rather than being thankful.
As I took God at His word and gave thanks in all circumstances, I saw the blessings. And the blessings are huge.
It wasn’t until I gave thanks that I could see the overwhelming abundance of blessings in my circumstance. Only when I was thankful could I taste the joy and delight.
How often do I miss the blessing because I’m so focused on the inconvenience or what I don’t like about something rather than being thankful?
How often am I frustrated by something, big or little, that really isn’t worth the frustration at all?
How often do I add to my frustrations and irritations because I don’t choose to be thankful?
How many blessings and possibilities do I not even notice or receive because my heart is caught up in the difficulty of a moment?
The thing is, God will answer my prayers and work out this current situation. Yet, as I thanked the Him the other night and the knowledge of all the blessings dawned, I realized that I’m going to miss the way things are right now.
I want to take absolutely everything in and appreciate every detail.
I don’t want to forget any of the beauty of this season.
Every season has inconveniences. But I don’t want them to blind me from the incredible blessings that my Jesus has given me and actually designed for me in this.
Change will come in my current situation, but it’ll be a little bittersweet. I see that now. I’m so thankful the Holy Spirit reminded me to be thankful, that He directed my prayers, that He let me see the joy and delight now, not later.
It all started with choosing thanks. It started with being thankful when I was focused on inconvenience.
Thank You, Father.
God is so good.
Give thanks with a grateful heart.
