The Fox Adventure

It has been a rough month with a lot of questions and tears. It’s also been a month of silence. It’s easier to numb myself with busyness and binge-watching than it is to open my Bible and cry out to the Lord. After all, human nature is not a natural inclination towards holiness. Even though I have made little to no effort towards my relationship with Christ, He never left me. Instead, in the very quick silent moments of my day, He revealed the underlining issue of my heart – bitterness.

It’s not bitterness towards other women who have received the precious gift of a child. It’s bitterness towards God. In not my proudest moment, I yelled to the Lord, “Why are you not blessing us!” Then I remembered the stories of Joseph and David and Tamar and Job and Abraham and Ruth and Mary and Paul. I fell into a trap from the enemy believing that my Savior owes me something. I serve a good Father who extends grace and mercy far beyond what we deserve. He owes me nothing. He already has given everything for me, He gave His life for me. God is just and faithful. While I continue fighting to fully surrender the plans I have for my life, I’m going to battle with bitterness.

The thing that really lifts my heart away from the deep pit of bitterness is thankfulness. So instead of pitching a fit with God, instead of sulking and numbing, instead of judging – I am resolving to get aggressively grateful for what God has done, is doing, and has promised to do in my life – right where I’m at.

This month is all about thankfulness, here’s your November reminder: Thankfulness is not weak and wimpy; it’s not nostalgic and polite. Thankfulness is intentional warfare against the idea that God is not enough for us. Thankfulness is worshipful warfare against the idea that we need more. So let’s be #aggressivelygrateful as we enter this week of thanks.

Thankfulness is the natural outflowing of a heart that is attuned to God. The Apostle Paul – a man who had learned the meaning of true thanksgiving, even in the midst of great adversity. Aggressive gratitude is a legacy that Paul left for us all to learn from. Think of it: “Give thanks in all circumstances” (1 Thes 5:18). Thanksgiving for Paul was not a once-a-year celebration, but a daily reality that changed his life and made him a joyful person in every situation.

Ingesting life’s difficulties and tragic events can be overwhelming. Having a heart of gratitude, therefore, is not about looking at the bright side of things. It’s not even acknowledging that things could be worse. Our thankfulness is never to be based on a set of circumstances.

It’s based on a Person.

C.S. Lewis, in one of his letters, says, “We ought to give thanks for all fortune: if it is ‘good,’ because it is good, if ‘bad’ because it works in us patience, humility and the contempt of this world and the hope of our eternal country.” In other words, we don’t have to muster up a false pleasure in bad times, but true gratitude comes from seeing the hand of God working in our lives.

xx katie