Last month my husband blessed me with a quick getaway to California. We were traveling with new friends and were looking forward to getting to know them better and also having a weekend without our kiddos…as precious as they are. However, right before we left we were notified of the power outages in Northern California due to the fires. Then there was an incident of poor time management on TSA’s end which very nearly resulted in the plane taking off without me. And when we finally met up with our friends, they discovered that they left their computer on the previous flight. Needless to say, things were not going as expected.
It was then that our friend said, “You know what? Even though this circumstance is not ideal, I choose gratitude.” To which we all responded, “Yes! We’re choosing gratitude too.” And from that moment on, gratitude was our theme for the remainder of the time that we spent together.
Now that’s not to say that we didn’t have a few more hiccups along the way, but because our attitude had shifted, we weren’t as frustrated by them and we could focus on the beauty of the adventure that was in front of us.
In the 23rd Psalm we see that David adopted the same positive outlook in his life. It wasn’t that his life was void of frustration or even very real danger as we see in verse 4: “Even when I go through the darkest valley, I fear no danger,…” Yet the game-changer in David’s situation is that he chose not to dwell on the less than ideal circumstances, but resolved to keep moving forward. He didn’t complain about the things that weren’t going his way, rather he focused on the abundance that the Lord had blessed him with and rejoiced that his cup overflowed.
We have the same opportunity that David did to choose an attitude of gratitude. Most of us have an abundance of blessings to be thankful for, to the extent that we can share with others. And even when we are facing a dark valley, God is still there to comfort us. He is our Good Shepherd and with Him we lack nothing. Our cup truly overflows.
Share with me. What are you grateful for this Thanksgiving season?
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