My thoughts on gratitude

How can I not agree with the prophets and teachings in the church that teach us:

• to be truly happy we must be grateful - we are happier and help others to be happier when we are grateful
• our lives are enriched when we live in thanksgiving daily
• to live in thanksgiving daily we need to open our eyes, hearts, and arms
• we truly have so much to be thankful for
• we all need to improve and express our thankfulness daily
• and lastly we should be thankful for all things

Of course, I agree with all these points, even though I can make many improvements in each of these areas, the last item is particularly a very hard one for me to agree with and accept. Sometimes I am not thankful for the sad and hard things that happen in my life. I know I learn and grow from them, but am I truly thankful? Well, honestly in the things that have been really sad for me, I haven't come to that point yet. I'm trying though. My father passed away a few years ago. I miss him terribly and even though I know I will be with him again if I can live righteously - I still miss him. I learned a lot from his death - probably lessons I needed to learn, but am I thankful for it? Well, honestly - no - not yet. I miss him and wish he were still here.

However, I came across a story that helps me with this issue. It is the story of the Pruning:



"Since I’m a gardener, I often find it necessary to do some pruning. Yesterday while working in my garden, I imagined what my tomato plants might be saying to me if they could talk. Perhaps, “Ouch. Why are you doing that? Why are you cutting off some of my branches? Don’t you know how much effort I’ve put into growing that new sucker? If you loved me, you would not hurt me like this.” But I needed to prune, to cause the plant to direct it’s growth energy into the central stem, so that frost would not catch it’s fruit unripe at the end of the season and destroy everything.

God is also a gardener. In John 15:1-6 it says. “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.-----Anyone who parts from me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers.” (NIV) He works on us whether we like it or not. God uses circumstances as his pruning tools.

The pruning may come through financial difficulties, health issues or personal relationships-and pruning will be painful.

There is a purpose to everything God allows to enter our lives. Deuteronomy 8:2-3 says, “Remember how the Lord your God led you through the wilderness for forty years, humbling you and testing you to prove your character, and to find out whether or not you would really obey his commands.” That’s a hard truth to swallow. God uses calamities to test our character! I’m soft. I wish the tests weren’t so hard. But a grape does not produce wine till it’s crushed. Neither do we show our true character till we face difficulties. How we handle calamities shows whether the Love of God is truly within us or whether we are filled with the fruits of the devil.

Job shows us a good example of how to handle calamities. In one day he had to face four of them. First, all of his animals and farmhands were killed by a raiding party of Sabeans. Then lightning killed all his sheep and shepherds. Then another messenger came, and told him the Chaldean raiders stole all his camels. Then a wind- storm came up, and killed all of his children. “Yet in all of this, Job did not sin by blaming God.” (Job 1:22) We are so quick to blame God or question him if he knows what he is doing. Job didn’t do that. He fell on his face and acknowledged the sovereignty of God. “God, you are God. You know what you are doing. I praise and thank you.” (This writer’s paraphrase)

We can either co-operate with God in the pruning process, or we can, by our attitudes, cut ourselves off from God. When we whine and complain, find fault with everything and everyone and blame God for our troubles, we cut ourselves off. That’s very easy to do.

To co-operate with the pruning process is much harder. We have to let God be God. We have to pray like Jesus did: “Not my will, but thine be done.” When things don’t go the way we want them to, we need to be aware of the possibility that maybe our Heavenly Gardener is at work in our lives, wanting to re-direct us.

The aim of this heavenly pruning process is to get us so in tune with our Heavenly Father, and to get so much divine life flowing through us, that all our prayers will be answered. John 15:16

When we feel the pain of pruning circumstances in our lives we need to pray."

Sometimes I feel like I am that tomato plant. I say "Heavenly Father" why are you cutting off that branch. I needed that branch. I loved that branch. How am I suppose to be thankful for cutting off that branch when I miss that branch" --

What helps me is prayer and also remembering that I don't understand the big picture. I have to trust Heavenly Father. He is the gardener. He knows what is happening in my life. He knows what is best for me and what is needed so that I can grow and improve. He has my best interest in mind and cares and loves me. I have to remember that and trust him and ask for his help through the hard and sad times. This is what helps me to understand and helps me as I try to be thankful for all the pruning that happens in my life.