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Transcript:
Hello, welcome to Walking in Step with God, I am Steve McDonald. Today we explore the topic “Discover the Power of Gratitude” as we kick off a brand new series “Gratitude and Trusting God’s Plan”. In this series, we will learn how gratitude plays an essential role in our walk of faith and learning God’s plan for our lives.
Gratitude comes in so many forms. We can be grateful and express gratitude, and we can receive gratitude from others. God is Love and provides for all our needs, therefore, it is only natural to show gratitude towards our heavenly Father. Today, I’d like to start this series off by discussing ways to show God how grateful we are to have Him in our lives.
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Welcome back. Let’s continue in our discussion of ways to discover gratitude in our journey of faith and our relationship with God
Trust God
We all have ups and downs in life. There are times, however, that circumstances can bring an extraordinary level of challenge and distress. Financial losses, medical ailments, and conflicts in relationships are just a few of the reasons we can experience distress.
In our journey of faith, it is during these challenging times that our trust in God can be put to the test. Often, in the face of difficult circumstances, it’s difficult to identify the promises of God’s faithfulness. In this time, we can discover the power of gratitude by trusting in God -despite- how things may appear.
This means, trusting in God despite the diagnosis from the doctor. Trusting in God despite the balance in our bank account. It means trusting in God even if our relationship with the one we love seems irreparably damaged. In these times, we can choose gratitude to God in the middle of chaos and pain. Positioning our hearts toward God and placing our trust in Him, despite what may be occurring all around us, is one of the most powerful ways we can show God our gratitude – even for things unseen and unknown.
Find Joy
As I just mentioned, trusting in God during difficult circumstances is a powerful way to express gratitude. Another consideration of how to posture our hearts in difficult times is to -find- joy.
As we decide to place our trust in God with all situations in our lives, let us also discover gratitude by finding joy. Find joy because right now, you are alive and breathing. Find joy because you have eyes to watch this video or ears to hear this podcast. If life circumstances are incredibly challenging, make it your goal to find joy in the things you still take for granted.
As I share this message, there is unspeakable suffering taking place in the world. Innocent victims of war and famine experience tragedy and destruction every day of their lives. I cannot pretend to know how I would endure these circumstances, but I would hope to find joy in every day that I am alive. I would hope to find joy in my love of God and knowing His love of me, knowing that no evil deed can separate me from Him.
Whatever is happening in your life right now, be it a life of abundance or one of suffering, make it a point to find joy in your heart today.
Praise God
Whether it be to show your trust in God or your joy, we express our gratitude through praise.
There are so many ways to show our praise. We can express our thanks through prayer. We can praise God through song. However you choose to praise God, let your gratitude shine through it.
God loves our praise. Let us make the time to express our gratitude through praise when we feel His presence in the room. Let us praise Him when we receive a response to prayer. Let us praise Him every day and every night and even in our sleep. God is so worthy of our praise and deserves our gratitude for all of the ways that He walks with us hand-in-hand throughout our lives.
Wrap Up
In today’s message, we kicked off our brand new series, Gratitude and Trusting God’s Plan, with a discussion on discovering the power of gratitude.
We explored the importance of showing gratitude to God by trusting in Him. Sometimes, when things are difficult, it might appear God is far, but He is not. He is right there with you. We can take a posture of gratitude by trusting in God even if it is not immediately apparent how He is helping us through difficult circumstances. We discussed the idea of finding joy in our lives. When we find joy, we are expressing gratitude to God as we reveal that no level of challenge or suffering will diminish our joy in Him. I believe it is possible to find joy even in the most difficult of circumstances, and it is important to be intentional in keeping a posture of joy as we walk with God each day. Last, we discussed the idea of praise. When we praise God, we are expressing our gratitude, be it through prayer or song. God is delighted to experience our praise, so let us praise Him each day for the joy we can experience in our lives and our trust in Him.
Discovering and embracing a heart of gratitude is one of the most powerful ways we can show our love to God and make Him first above every other aspect of our lives.
I invite you to express gratitude to God today!
Are you interested in discovering more about the guidance offered in this message? Learn more in the companion article Going Deeper with the Word: Find Guidance on Your Journey With God
