Are you grateful?

Most of us would probably answer, “Yes”.  But how grateful are we?

It’s easy to be grateful during good times, when life is going beautifully- relationships are joyful and enriching, we’re productive at work, we’re healthy, and fruitful in our ministry. But are we also grateful when life starts to spiral downward; fractured relationships, health concerns, not feeling needed, or doubting our purpose.

Gratitude is a way of life, not just being thankful when life is going well, then being ungrateful when life is hard.

We must make an intentional choice to be grateful.

This can be challenging when life’s stressors escalate. We need an attitude of gratitude that is not dependent on our circumstances.

So how can we cultivate gratitude?

We need to develop a heart posture of humility; being thankful for the Lord’s provision. He knows exactly what we need and when we need it. He has blessed us far more than we deserve,...

I’m going to date myself here, but early in my marriage, we used to watch an evening game show called “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire”. The contestants were asked questions, and with each correct answer, they earned more money in hopes of reaching the million. The more questions you got correct, the harder they got. If the question was too hard, or they found themselves doubting the answer, there was help. Fortunately, they could turn to one of three ‘lifelines’ for assistance, and more times than not they turned to the “phone-a-friend” option. If chosen, they could call a friend and ask them what the answer was.  

How often have you been faced with a moment in your day or week when you didn’t have the answer? Maybe you were sitting under the weight of overwhelm from circumstances beyond your control, needing to make a big decision, or your mind was wanting to do what you knew was the right thing but your spirit felt...