A few weeks ago I received a donation from one of our partners, with a note that caught my attention and stayed in my spirit for weeks. It said ‘this is a seed of thanksgiving for the recent divine appointment from God.’
I won’t go into the personal aspects of it, but what impacted me was not that this person had sown a seed, but a seed of THANKSGIVING for a divine appointment from God. I was blessed and touched by this offering of thanksgiving.
The Bible talks about offerings of thanksgiving quite often but we don’t see them too much these days. In the Bible these types of offerings were made when battles were won or when a harvest came in, as well as other times. We see that those who gave these types of offerings had a heart of gratitude just as we saw in this partner and her offering of thanksgiving.
Gratitude is defined as; Gratitude, thankfulness, gratefulness, or appreciation is a feeling or attitude in acknowledgment of a benefit that one has received or will receive.
There have been many studies done on people who are grateful or thankful. One study showed that people who showed gratitude or thanksgiving were 70% more likely to have great things happen for them again and again. Wow, I loved that one.
Studies additionally showed that people who had a heart of thanksgiving or gratitude were healthier and had a much higher percentage of well-being all around.
It has been said that gratitude is not only the greatest of the virtues but the parent of all others.
And then my favorite of all….gratitude and thankfulness is a form of WORSHIP to GOD! When she gave her thanksgiving offering, she was worshipping God with it. Praise the Lord!
1 Thessalonians 5:18 says; in all things give thanks for this is the will of God concerning you. It doesn’t say FOR all things give thanks. It says ‘in all things, give thanks.’
Over the years I have told Breanne over and over that you can find something to give thanks for in every situation. You may have to look really hard, but you can find something to give thanks for.
The partner I shared with you gave thanks for a divine appointment set up by God. That’s a great thing. However, when bad things happen, we much search and find something to be thankful for in those situations as well…there is something there…look for it and then remember to give God thanks for it.
The other day Breanne was trimming some shrubbery around her yard, without knowing there was a hornet’s nest within the shrubs. She disturbed the nest and was stung by two different hornets. It was painful and swollen the size of a baseball. She called and we prayed and God walked her through it.
Today we were talking on the phone and she shared with me that moments after she was stung, in the midst of the pain and anxiety of the situation, she said she kept saying ‘thank you God that it was only two stings, thank you God that it was only two.’ She found something to be thankful for in the midst of the attack. You can do the same thing. I couldn’t be more proud of her, and I know that the thankfulness in her heart, that came out of her mouth, caused her to continue to walk in peace and blessing in the very midst of an attack. Praise God for that!
I want you to think about this teaching and think about what you have to be thankful for today and then offer up to God an offering of thanksgiving and gratitude. We can always find something to be grateful for. God is good; we can always thank him for that alone. God is faithful. Let’s be grateful for that as well. In all things, let’s give thanks.
