God is calling us to a deeper kind of gratitude—one that doesn’t depend on our circumstances or whether things go our way, or not.

It doesn’t hinge on whether our circumstances change.

It is quite literally gratitude for every little thing…all the time.

Right now I’m in Colombia leading a missions trip, and when we began I spoke to the team about the importance of gratitude. I shared with them that often we have gratitude for all the things that go right, or as we expect, but we needed to have gratitude for every little thing on the trip and otherwise. And gratitude isn’t just the words we speak, and certainly it’s not about forcing ourselves to say nice things even when we don’t mean it. Having gratitude is about the true posture of our hearts. It’s not even gratitude if it isn’t real.

 I am thankful for the everyday things

A few years ago, God spoke to me to start being thankful for literally every little thing. And truth be told, sometimes as I did that, I realized some of the little things were actually big things. During that time, God gave me an assignment of thanking my husband for literally everything. I would make a point to thank him each time saying:

“Thank you for passing the salt.”

“Thank you for filling my car with gas.”

“Thank you for bringing me coffee in bed.”

“Thank you for coming into our room before you were done watching TV, because I asked you to snuggle with me.”

“Thank you for letting the dogs out.”

At one point, my constant thank you’s got a little annoying to him and he asked me to cut back on them. I did find a happy medium, but I am still very cognizant of thanking him. And, I have a greater awareness of the need to thank others.

I truly believe that gratitude is one of the things that ushers in the blessing of God. And I want the blessing of God! A lack of gratitude stops the blessing of God. One thing I am mindful of is that when we take things for granted, what is granted gets taken. I don’t want that to happen to me. I want to stay blessable. I know that to have a blessed life I can’t be like the lepers who were cleansed but went on their merry way so excited they failed to give thanks to the One who blessed them.

One of the things that makes us more grateful for the mundane things is not having them anymore. Sometimes we even temporarily lose the things that we enjoy. This week while I am in Colombia, although I have very nice accommodations and wonderful meals, I do not have a husband who is bringing me coffee in bed, or snuggling with me, or any of the things along these lines that mean a lot to me. And I am reminded of how much I treasure these things. Gratitude in the everyday things of life reminds us that God is in those things too — not just the miracles. A minister I respect so much – Evangelist Martha Tennison, often says, “God is more in the mundane than the miraculous!”

I am thankful for the hard things

So many people just want to be grateful when everything is going their way. I’ve been that person before. And I am reminded of the importance of thanking God for even the hard times. This doesn’t mean denying reality or believing that we must enjoy our trials. It means being thankful for how God will use them our lives. He redeems everything, if we allow Him to.

Trials are where transformation happens. Hard things are where the most amazing things begin, Most of the incredible things that have happened in my life have come as a result of hard times.

Before I left for Colombia we had a church worship team rehearsal. We were learning a new song and it was a rather difficult one in comparison to the ones we usually do. One of the team members remarked, “This is such a hard song!” I responded with, “Yes, it is. But did you ever notice how, when you finish learning a hard song and can do it well, they are among the most fun ones to do?” I saw some heads nodding in agreement when I said that.

We wouldn’t even know who Joseph of the Old Testament was unless he went through everything from the pit to the palace.

Paul’s stories just wouldn’t be the same without all of the persecution and imprisonment he went through.

And consider Jesus, in the Garden of Gethsemene, sweating drops of blood, and going to the cross to pay for our redemption.

Although I may not know what good thing is on the other side of my trial, I can take joy and have gratitude knowing that something redeeming will come of it, and I am going to grow as a person through it.

I am grateful I can count on God and His Word

Did you ever notice how much and how fast life changes? Honestly, it makes my head spin sometimes. Just when I think I’ve got some things of life down pat, BAM! Things change. I always say, “I love change…as long as I’m the one making it!” I’m only half kidding. Let’s be real, change is hard.

In a world that constantly shifts, God remains the same. He is always faithful, always good, always present. His Word says, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8) I am grateful that even when change happens that is shocking and hard, I can count on God never changing. Additionally, he’s not moody or forgetful or absent. I am thankful that He never leaves me. I never have to get through life alone. The Holy Spirit is my ever present guide, comforter, teacher, and advocate. Everyday, I am so grateful that the Spirit of God lives in me and empowers me to walk in wisdom, peace and power.

What are you most grateful for today? I’d love to hear about it. Share with me in the comments.