Thankfulness

"Always be joyful, never stop praying, be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus" (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)

 



I've been doing a study on the book of Colossians and Paul talks a lot about being thankful. A cross reference study question led me to the Thessalonians scripture above one day and it really made me stop and think.  It's God's will for me to be thankful in all circumstances (as well as joyful!).  I haven't exactly been obedient in this area. While I don't think He expects me to sit around and thank Him for allowing me to be dizzy all day and night, I do think He wants me to have an attitude of thankfulness because of all that I DO have to be thankful for thanks to my new life in Him. (On some level, I am thankful for this illness because it's what God used to bring me closer to Him than I have ever been before.)

 

First and foremost, I am thankful for my salvation and my reconciliation to God, my Father, through the blood of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, without whom I could not have possibly made it through a single day of this illness.  I am also forever thankful to God for my husband, who the Lord has given to me as my love, encourager, strength and so much more.

 

Today, practically speaking despite my illness, I am thankful for:

• Being able to get out of bed.

• The time I was able to spend in Bible study and prayer without any major episodes of dizziness trying to stop me!

• The fact that I was able to feed and care for my pets :)

• A successful vestibular rehabilitation appointment, despite the fact that it was very difficult mentally and emotionally to realize how far I have backslidden in my therapy due to this recent bout of vertigo.  I made it through each and every exercise with the Lord's strength when every part of me wanted to give up and felt fearful that it might trigger dizziness.

• Being able to do two loads of laundry and run the dishwasher.

• My recliner, air conditioning and nice, long nap in the afternoon!

• The fact that I was able to prepare dinner and enjoy it at my dining room table with my husband

• A nice, warm shower that I was able to take. Speaking of the shower, I'm also thankful for not getting hurt more seriously when I fell (ironically, not because of my dizziness)

All in all I'd say it was a good day despite feeling worse lately. I need to focus on the good.  I want this to be a habit, a life change, but it's so hard.  It's something only the Lord can do in me as I make the daily choice to focus on all I have to be thankful for.

 

Do you struggle with being joyful and thankful, especially in the really hard times?