Streams of Comfort

For this week’s special post, I wanted to write a little bit about how difficult it can be to be thankful. Especially when it feels like things going well is a given. I hope you are encouraged to think deeply about what you are thankful for or should be thankful for. Remembering that even life itself is a gift from God.

Sometimes it’s hard to be thankful when everything is going right,
It feels like things are supposed to be that way,
And I often find myself thinking,
Why should I be thankful for things going the way they should?
Should a tree be thankful towards the sun for doing what it should be doing,
Providing the light and energy it needs to grow?
Should a child be thankful to their parents,
For doing what they should be doing,
Providing them the care and love they need to grow?
Should a dog be thankful to its owners,
For doing what they should be doing,
Providing the food and shelter it needs?
These thoughts seem reasonable, but they do not consider the entire picture,
They simply focus on perceived actions,
Not the intention, heart, and ultimately God.
They do not consider that humans, plants, animals, and the sky,
Are all created things,
And that everything we have has been given to us in some way,
Even if we feel that we worked for them.
Things working as they should is not a given,
It is the process of the created receiving and giving the grace of the creator,
The good does not originate with us,
But somehow we still receive it.
And that creates a lot to be thankful for,
Because when the sun shines,
When parents love their children,
And when owners are good to their pets,
It is all ultimately an act of God’s Love, mercy, and grace,
That we did nothing to deserve or create.