Living in Thankfulness

 By: Grace Metzger

Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.

‭‭Colossians‬ ‭4‬:‭2‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Today is Thanksgiving, a Holiday that is quickly becoming one of my favorites. The concept of having a day where we are reminded to be thankful for everything in our life. A common complaint I hear about this Holiday is that we should be showing our thankfulness everyday, not just on one day. I completely agree with this statement but that is something easier said then done. 

“Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!”

‭‭Psalm‬ ‭95‬:‭2‬ ‭ESV‬‬

If you’re like me, a bit cocky, you might say “what’s so hard about being thankful daily?” But when you actually try to put this into practice you quickly find that there are days when you feel anything but thankful. Days when you care breaks down when you’re already late to work, when you’re in a fight with a loved one, when the test results show something wrong, etc. How can we possible be thankful when the world is throwing everything at us?

I understand how this feels. I start November with a goal of giving thanks to God daily but when there were hard days I began struggling tremendously with this goal. It’s very easy to see the blessings when life is going good but life isn’t always going to be good. So what can we do when we go through these hard times? How can we continue to give thanks when we’re going through a storm?

“And they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to the Lord, “For He is good, for His steadfast love endures forever toward Israel.” And all the people shouted with a great shout when they praised the Lord.

Ezra‬ ‭3‬:‭11‬ ‭ESV‬‬