Thursday, July 7, 2016

Reflections on Gratitutde



Gratitude is the seed of joy. It is in a higher sphere than simple thanksgiving. Gratitude is more an ongoing attitude of humility & understood grace than it is a response to a particular situation, as is joy different & higher than happiness.

Happiness is a response to a sense of well-being from life operating & turning out as "planned" - under our control. It doesn't require God's gracious intervention to be happy when things go according to one's plans. But to have true joy means to live in an attitude of trusting God & gratitude for all He IS & has already done, trusting that He will continue to work in our lives, even when all appearances seem to show the opposite. It is an awareness of His (Supernatural) peace & well-being when all things start to "fall apart" from the way WE have planned them. This is why joy is called a "Fruit of the Spirit" & "happiness" is not.

It is at these very instances when our natural minds want to "jump ship" & many, sadly, do, but in doing so, miss out on the very vindication of their faith that they have longed for. Because if we hang on to our trust in God when we don't FEEL it, with gratitude, we come to experience the "peace that passes understanding" & our Lord's faithfulness displayed in our lives in a way we could never have imagined as part of our own small plans for ourselves. It also builds trust, humility, gratitude & a deeper understanding of God's grace & love better than any book or sermon ever could!

In his book The Screwtape Letters, the senior demon, Screwtape, in speaking to his nephew & underling demon, Wormwood, lectures him on the spiritual danger (from a demonic position, obviously) that occurs (so think of the opposite from God's perspective when he says): "Our cause is never more in danger than when a human, no longer desiring, but still intending, to do our Enemy's will, looks round upon a universe from which every trace of Him seems to have vanished, & asks why he has been forsaken, & still obeys." (Screwtape Letters, p. 40). This describes the believer that is experiencing what the "saints of old" referred to as "the dark night of the soul." It speaks of a period of time (that happens to all believers from time to time) in which we can't feel God's presence & see only bleakness around us. Yet, in the case of believers who have come to know & trust their Lord's ultimate goodness & wonderful plans for them, they can see no good around them yet still follow Him. This is when the enemy of our soul - Satan & his hordes - feel like their cause is most desperate & a reason for us to rejoice! God & His angels certainly are, & we will, too, if we keep going and do not give up!

A heart of gratitude, overflowing to worship, will increase our sense of hope & optimism based on the goodness of God, not what we see with our earthly eyes. An amazing road!