Have you ever painstakingly searched for the perfect gift for someone and then after you gave it to them it was met with indifference and possibly not even acknowledged?   It’s especially disappointing when that happens and you knew without a doubt it was the perfect gift.  But for some reason, it wasn’t exactly what they wanted or it wasn’t what was on their list, so they didn’t appreciate it like you thought they would.  What is really disheartening is when they don’t say thank you, or if they do, you can tell it isn’t heartfelt.

We probably see this most often when we give a gift to a child.  They have so much already, but we get so much joy in watching them unwrap the gift and then our hearts sink a little when they toss it aside and start opening the next gift or ask for more.

Do you suppose this is how God feels about us and our indifference to the gifts he has given us?  Think about it, for the most part, we have everything we need.  A nice home, clean clothes, a decent job, convenient transportation, food on our table, clean water, and access to a really great education.  We live in a free country where we can come and go as we please.  We can generally go where we want without fear for our safety.  Sadly, there are millions of people around the world who do not enjoy these blessings we take for granted.  

I don’t know about you, but the last thing I want to do is give something to someone who doesn’t appreciate it.  But that is how we are, isn’t it?  We have all these amazing things in our life, but all we can focus on are the things we don’t have and the things we want.  Our closets are bursting with clothes, our pantries are overflowing with food, and our shoe racks aren’t big enough for all the shoes we own (or is that just me?). Face it, many of us fill our basements, attics, and garages to the brim with stuff and nearly 10% of us rent a storage unit too!

Truly when was the last time you said thank you for all the abundance in your life?  I’m not talking about when someone physically hands you a gift, but when was the last time you expressed gratitude to God for all you have?  Has it been awhile?   No wonder God is reluctant to give us the things we ask for sometimes. We haven’t thanked him for what we have.  

In this week’s episode of Reviving Your Soul (Now Longing for More), I share how the Bible tells us to always be thankful.  Notice how this doesn’t say when things are good, give thanks.  It says ALWAYS.  This means that our joy, prayers, and thankfulness shouldn’t ebb and flow depending on our mood, how well things are going, or how we feel.  We need to make a conscious decision to do what God says.  Another distinction to make is that it isn’t telling us to thank God FOR everything that happens to us, but rather to thank him IN everything.  That means that we don’t thank him for the bad things, but we can thank him for his presence during the troubling times and for the good that he will accomplish through the difficulties. 

I don’t know about you, but I’ve got more than I will ever be able to realistically use in this lifetime.   But I believe that God is much like I am as a parent.  He, like us, wants to give us the best.  He wants us to have everything our hearts desire, but he wants us to appreciate what we already have before he gives us more.  What do you need to thank him for today? 

I really believe that when we begin to live in sincere gratitude, our perspectives begin to change. We begin to love our lives, our work, and the people we encounter.   If we choose to, we can even create a life that really matters.  If you want to hear more about the concept of living in gratitude, listen to this week’s episode of Reviving Your Soul (Longing for More).  As always, if know of someone who could benefit from hearing this message, please share it with them.

So go.  Live in gratitude for all you have.