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Gratitude may come easy for most of us at the beginning of the winter holidays as we tick off our blessings of the year at family gatherings. The very air carries a current of excitement as the Christmas tree emerges, holiday songs play in the background, and towns light up with colorful decorations.
Then January arrives. Somebody pulls the plug on the lights. Silvery tinsel lines the floor rather than the tree, and a pile of credit card bills replaces the wrapping paper. The front door clicks shut with the last retreating guest. And the house feels empty—too empty.
Or perhaps the holiday season wasn’t all you hoped it could be. Some adults did not play well together. Sickness, financial debt, or strained relationships came as unwelcome guests. The weight scales record a new number that is not encouraging. Worse yet, tragedy and loss may have entered your home at the height of your celebration.
Where did the gratitude of November go?
The apostle Paul wrote, “And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Is it possible to stay grateful even in the toughest moments?’
Here are some ways you can stay thankful for everything throughout the next few weeks no matter what happens.
Look at what you have. Move beyond the typical blessings often listed at Thanksgiving. Think of specific parts of creation: a full moon rising above a bed of puffy clouds, a stunning sunset, or the hundreds of variations of a bird song. Thank God for the unseen but equally significant parts of His created world: gravity, time, music, and language. God designed all of them and as part of His creation, He maintains them—they are not going away any time soon. He made them all for you, His highest creation. And you yourself are a splendid masterpiece. Your body is so intricate, it’s amazing that it works together as well as it does.
When you find gratitude in what you have today, you aren’t as apt to regret the past or feel fearful about the future.
Expand your perspective. God’s design of creation gives us enough reason to thank Him for it, whether or not we enjoy it or find it pleasant. And God orchestrates and allows events in our world to fit His overall eternal purposes. Those things might temporarily inconvenience us or make life difficult, but in the long term, His long-range purposes are best. A snowstorm may cancel our plans but provides much-needed spring moisture. A missed appointment may be the Lord’s way of protecting us from a danger seen only by Him.
You may not know the reasons why something has happened to you. But God knows and He is in charge. You can still give thanks for the parts of life you don’t understand.
Remember how God has been with you. If you find yourself in a time of struggle, think of similar times in your past when God took care of you. How has He provided financially? What people did He bring to walk beside you? How has He helped you recover from past illnesses and injuries?
If He has provided and protected you before, He can do it again. Thank Him for the ways you have seen Him active in your life to this point.
Appreciate the people in your life. Make a list of those people who have blessed and enriched your life moments. Start with family, friends, neighbors, and church folks. Move on to the unnamed—store clerks, medical personnel, schoolteachers, restaurant servers, and bank associates. Thank God for the role each person plays in your life.
List the promises God has made. If life has recently dragged you through the muck and mud, it may be difficult to feel thankful about anything, even after going through the previous four steps. Problems seem unsolvable and circumstances appear unending. How can you possibly be grateful for hopeless situations?
Think about the personal promises in the Bible that apply to all of us: “I will be with you (Mt 28:20)”, “I will strengthen you (Is. 41:10)”, and “I will deliver you (Ps. 50:15).” God will do those things for you too. No matter what you face right now, God has promised to stay with you and lead you through your darkest moments. By thanking God for what He will do in the future, you show faith and confidence that He will keep His promises as He has always done before.
It sounds unrealistic to thank God for everything, but it is possible. By choosing to look at life from God’s eternal perspective, we gain an understanding of how God works and why He does what He does. As we move closer to His will, we will, in turn, find new reasons to thank Him for all that He has done, is doing, and will do in the future.
Author of Grateful Heart: 60 Reasons to Give Thanks in All Things, Karen Wingate loves to write about God’s presence and activity in our world. She enjoys making homemade bread, knitting blankets for babies in need, and watching sunsets in her hometown of Tucson, AZ. Visit Karen at
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