Gratitude

At a Women of Faith conference they were short of space for 150 people, so the staff brought in narrower chairs. Everyone had a seat, but conditions in the auditorium were cramped and nobody was happy. The directors asked the guest speaker, Joni Eareckson Tada, to help calm the crowd. A childhood diving accident had left Joni quadriplegic and confined to a wheelchair. As the attendants pushed her out onto the platform she addressed the audience: "I understand some of you don't like the chair you're sitting in. Well, neither do I! But I've a thousand handicapped friends who'd gladly trade places with you." Immediately the hall went quiet and the complaining stopped.

When Paul was training Timothy he said, "Be strong in the grace that is in Christ" (2 Timothy 2:1), and gratitude is an offshoot of grace. The Bible says, "Let us continually (not just when you feel like it!) offer the sacrifice of praise to God....giving thanks to His name." After the Bible expositor Matthew Henry was accosted and robbed he wrote in his diary: "Let me be thankful, first, that I was never robbed before, second, that although they took my purse they didn't take my life, third, that although they took everything I had, it wasn't much, fourth, that it was I who was robbed, and not I who did the robbing."

If you're struggling to find something to be grateful for today, here's a good reason: "Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever" (Psalm 118:29 NIV).