09 May 2014

Five Minute Friday ~ Some days its hard to feel grateful ~


Some days I'm so distracted by all the amazing and good gifts that I forget...

Some days, I start to "believe my own press" and throw any measure of humility out the window...

Some days, we get bad news...

Some days if feels like following God leads to undesirable consequences that I don't want to bear...

Some days the words and actions of others discourage me...

Some days my own words and actions discourage me...

Some days, life is just hard...

...but God is good.

always,

infinitely,

graciously,

lavishly,

amazingly...

And that's where this missionary is right now... today... 

Choosing to believe that I have an infinite number of reasons to be grateful and intentionally numbering them throughout this day.

Even when I don't want to and really don't feel like it.

Is that hypocrisy? A lack of transparent authenticity in failing to recognize the person, warts and all, that God created me to be by not, as so many say, wallowing in that gut level, feeling response?

Or is it obedience?

...through him, then, we may offer up a sacrifice of praise always to God, 
that is, the fruit of lips, giving thanks to His name;
(Hebrews 13.15, YLT)

Or is it recognizing that my perspective is not infallible?

Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, 
and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, 
with reverence and awe, 
for our God is a consuming fire.
(Hebrews 12.28-29, ESV)

I am grateful to the one who has strengthened me, 
Christ Jesus our Lord, 
because he considered me 
faithful in putting me into ministry, 
even though 
I was formerly...
(1 Timothy 1.12-13a, NET)

As Louie Giglio puts it, "I am not, but I know I AM..."

*************************************************
Linking up with LISA-JO for another 5 Minute Friday
to spend five minutes spilling out thoughts on gratefulness.

8 comments:

  1. "Some days I'm so distracted by..." I think we could fill in the blank and come up with any number of distractions that keep us from being grateful for or noticing the amazing grace that abounds and is captured in every breath of creation. Praying we both cultivate grateful hearts more fully every day! Visiting from FMF. Blessings! ~ Barbara @ merewhispers.wordpress.com

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    1. glad to know i'm not the only one getting hopelessly distracted on some days! thanks for popping by.

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  2. Distractions are an aggravation, aren't they? And yet they come no matter how hard we try to push them away. They do take our focus off Him and put it on other things. I really enjoyed your post on the word "grateful" and love how you formatted it. Easy to read. When I was still on Blogspot, my template and background were the same as yours. I felt like I'd come home! Blessings!

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    1. i LOVE daisies ~ hence why i've picked this background. had it for awhile and still like it better than any other alternative i've considered.

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  3. Richelle,
    Thank you for your honesty...I think the days when it is hardest...it is when we offer our sacrifice of thanks that is the sweetest....and gratitude can coexist with honesty about how hard it is to deal with a person and/or a situation....your faith inspires me...praying you have a very blessed Mother's Day :)

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    1. thanks, dolly. trusting you had a blessed mama's day as well.

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  4. '...following God leads to consequences I don't want to bear...'' I've been in a situation since Sept where I feel God taking me out of my comfort zone for a number of reasons, and it's all kind of messy and unfamiliar. It has taken me a while, but in recent months I have tried thanking him for putting me in the place I'm in and it truly has made me see the whole thing differently. I could relate to so many of your bullet points here today. Thank you for visiting my blog!

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    Replies
    1. glad you could relate... sometimes it is easy to forget that our problems and struggles are all common ones if we're just transparent and honest enough to share.

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