“There is no way to begin
to tell you how I feel
There are no words to express
how you’ve become so real.”
Have you ever been so incredibly overwhelmed by gratitude that you truly have no words to express how you feel? Have you ever felt so blessed, so overjoyed that you feel tears brim? Over the simplest of things even?
“I have a thankful heart
Words don’t come easily”
It’s an experience. To literally feel your “cup runeth over,” to feel this genuinely overwhelming sense of thankfulness pour out of your spirit and wash over your body.
In moments like these, I cannot do anything more than praise the Father and thank Him.
There are so many things in this world that can bring us down, that can tear at us, between us, and around us. We live in a dark and broken world, a world that is falling deeper and deeper into chaos and sin. A world that is doomed to a fiery death, a most painful end. And, many times, this dark, cruel world can bog us down. If we aren’t careful, that can seep into our spirits and drag us down with it.
How do you fight a dark, vile world? One full of hurt and sorrow, so much pain and bitterness, hate and ignorance? How do you stay afloat in the torrential storm that life is? How do you center yourself and find some semblance of peace?
You fight the darkness with light. You never let go of hope. No matter the cost.
One of the most effective ways of cultivating light, of maintaining hope, is gratitude. If you are thankful, there is little room for bitterness to take root, for selfishness to carve out pieces of your heart, or for darkness to overshadow you. When you are thankful, even for the smallest of things, it changes your spirit. And creating a habit of gratitude, a consisent observance of thankfulness, you mold your character, strengthen your spirit, and develop an endurance for the wildest of storms, the darkest of nights.
I tell you, I have found a peace deeper and more real than anything in this crazy world. I have found a joy that is rooted in my very soul. I have found a way to thank God above despite the hurt I see around me.
That doesn’t mean I don’t hurt, too. That doesn’t mean I don’t cry or feel anger and resentment. It doesn’t mean I can call on joy and peace in the moment when my wounds are torn open, my flesh exposed, my fears affronted. I’m not impervious to the upheaval in my spirit or the temptations of the flesh. Far from it. I am just as prone to fall as the next man. I have just as many faults and fears as the next man. I have as many scars, and I have inflicted as many wounds as I have incurred.
But…no matter what life throws at me, I have a blessed assurance. I know in the very fabric of my being that it doesn’t all end in misery. This will all be worth it in the end. And I cling to that hope.
Job hoped. He trusted in God. He knew that God was the Master of everything, that He was good and right and just, no matter what happened to him, no matter what the people around him said. His friends accused him of wickedness. Even his own wife told him to abandon his beliefs, to give up hope, and to die. But Job knew with everything that was in him that nothing mattered without God. That God was the only constant in this everchanging world. Job lost everything. But he knew that the one thing he could never lose was God’s love. And for that he was thankful.
I can’t stop this world from spinning out of control. I can’t stop the torment, the evil that surrounds us. I even struggle to see throught the murky darkness at times. I could lose everything and everyone I love tomorrow. I could be condemned to a fate worse than death and denied everything I’ve ever dreamed of and I would not relent this hope.
There is always something to be thankful for. There always has been.
How do you fight? I can tell you how I fight. A day at a time. A moment at a time.
I watch the world around me and see the good in God’s creation. I find the moments that are precious; I find them, then treasure and store them up. And those bring me through the darkness. I see the little boy give up his balloon to the little girl to stop her tears. I see the young woman doggedly determined to never repeat the mistakes of her past. I see the man fighting far from home, putting his own life on the line for a complete stranger he may never meet. I see the people who offer kindness for no reward and who serve for no glory.
Gratitude is…one of the most powerful forces I’ve ever known. It can change hearts more completely than almost anything else. Gratitude comes from contentment. If you can learn to be content with what you have, who you are, and where you are, you can cultivate gratitude in the lowest of circumstances and maintain an inpenitrible hope.
And hope is what fuels us. It propels us forward. Hope gives us the motivation to take that next step, no matter how grueling it is, no matter how much it hurts. Hope is what drives us on when we’ve lost all else.
Build a lifetime of memories, of assurance, and you will have the weapons, the skill, the endurance, the character to never let go. You can harvest the fruits of the Spirit. You can reap the undeniable peace, joy, and love. You can have the hope that never lets go. If you plant the seeds today. If you tend to them daily, water them faithfully, shine light on them, and bravely yank out the weeds. It’s laborious. It’s painful. It’s tedious, monotonous, and tiresome. But it is rewarding beyond measure.
Start small. What are you thankful for today? What blessing can you count now? Write it down. Remember it. Let it light your eyes and curve your lips. Let it settle into your heart and lift your sprit. And then do it again tomorrow. And the next day and then next and the next until your heart overflows with something that has no name, something words cannot express. Do it until you smile for no reason and praise the Lord above for the simplest of things. Do it until your heart soars and your spirit sings. Because that is how you endure. That is how you hope.
Love always,
Coralie
Petra Thankful Heart