Attitude of Graditude

[IslandRose]

James 1:1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.

2 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;

3 Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.

4 But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

On September 12, 2004, we had a terrible hurricane on our island. 90% of the homes and businesses sustained damage and at leat 50% of the homes sustained major damage. Most of those residences are still not habitable due to the difficulty getting supplies from Florida, which itself was hit by 4 major hurricanes. Life has been hard for many here. Many are still living in a single room of friends homes or living in homes badly damaged hoping that they can get gaping holes covered before the rainy season starts in a few months. Some people couldn't take the hardship and packed up and left. Many Ex-pats returned to their home countries, and even some locals moved to the smaller islands to get away from the depressing sight of beautiful homes ravaged by Ivan.

Not too long after the storm a man in his mid 40's sat on property he owned, on the porch of a house he owned, the roof of which was already under repair, unlike many of his neighbors, and put a bullet through his head. His family said he couldn't deal with all that he had lost in the storm. This week I met up with a frail, elderly woman who's house was washed completely away in the storm. When I asked her how she was doing, her reply? "I'm Thankful."

One lost little and and couldn't deal with it. The other lost everything and was "thankful". What was the difference? The attitude.

"I'm Thankful" is a common reply here in Cayman. I'm told that decades ago there was an old Holiness preacher who started people saying that as the reply to "how are you?" and it stuck. But these days around here, it means more to all of us. What is there to be thankful for? For life, (only 4 lost their lives in the storm), for the hope of rebuilding, for the daily blessings of God.

I guess it has to do with where our focus lies. We seem to think that we somehow deserve to have certain things. And so when things don't go as we think they should, we focus on what we don't have. We look around at what others have and we feel cheated.

What do they have that maybe we don't? A spouse, a child, a job, a big house, a nice car, health, wealth, long life, an easy life..... You fill in the blank.

Shouldn't our focus instead be on the blessing God has afforded to us every day? As Believers those would include life, the Love of our Heavenly Father, Salvation, the companionship of the Holy Spirit,... Again, look around you and fill in the blanks from your own life. And if you look around you at what you DO have, and practice being thankful for those things, you will find that instead of pain and bitterness, you will find peace.

Philippians 4:6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.

7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

1Timothy 6:6 But godliness with contentment is great gain.

[Keith]

Rose,

I appreciate this post so much. It's been the cry of my heart and has brought a lot of healing to my life. Gratitude and thankfulness are amazingly powerful! It is a matter of attitude and it makes a world of difference in how we react to things/people/situations. It also shows a person's character, if they are or aren't thankful.

To live contentedly, in all things, brings peace. Things are just things and can be replaced.

[traveller]

AMEN!!! Excellent insight IslandRose! Great thread. I am reminded of Romans 8.

Rom 8:16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:

Rom 8:17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with [him], that we may be also glorified together.

Rom 8:18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time [are] not worthy [to be compared] with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

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Rom 8:36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.

Rom 8:37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

Rom 8:38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,

Rom 8:39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

There is great suffering in this life, some more than others. Yet through it all, as Christians, we have thanksgiving for the great gift of salvation, of life eternal, that was given us.

We are truly blessed.

[refugepsa91]

Woo-hooo....so true...when I feel downtrodden I always spend at least a week not asking God for anything..instead I thank Him for what I do have...from the blanket covering me to my kids and husband It works everytime

Love and Blessings,

Angel