(The Power of) Thankfulness

 

The children of Israel grumbled against Moshe and Aaron, and the whole congregation said to them,
“If only we had died in the land of Egypt! Or that we had died in this wilderness!” Numbers 14:2

In my opinion, there is something innate in human nature about the propensity to complain and grumble.
It can just seem so easy to do- not right, mind you, just easy.
The Yiddish word for grumbling/complaining is “kvetching”,
and in listening to people in general, kvetching is something that indeed can come more naturally.
Why ?
Because we are broken and flawed creatures, thanks to Eve and Adam. (Yes, I”ll kvetch about them.)
Yesterday was my 61st birthday, and we celebrated life (my life in particular) with joy
and I soaked in the fact that I was surrounded by people whom I love, who love me back.
I didn’t think about aches and pains, my gray thinning hair, weird eyebrows, the fatigue that never leaves me,
deafness, a heart valve that requires medication every day for the rest of my life, cataracts, back injuries, worries about money, nor political upheavals (notice: I’m just stating them here- not complaining or grumbling).
There was a time of hopelessness where I thought I’d never see my 40th birthday,
and a dire time when I lay dying when nobody except my wife thought I’d never see my 56th.

But God...
1Thessalonians 5:16-18: “rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances;
for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

So I choose a supernatural path: to be thankful.
Thankful for the number of strands of hair that Abba knows I have.
Thankful for the hearing which I still have (however diminished).
Thankful for surgeries that can remove cataracts.
Thankful for medication that prolongs my life.
Thankful for divine appointments.
And most importantly, and at the heart of all my thankfulness,
is my Abba/Father God- who works all things out for good, no matter how difficult or impossible they might seem.
How wild is it to understand that this Melech HaOlam, Creator of the World and the whole Universe,
loves me, sees me (and you) in all  potential, provides abundant Life and the Only Way to eternal life through Messiah (Christ) alone,
and He promises never to leave us or foresake us.
Not a moment of our lives goes unscheduled or unseen by Him. Imagine that.
Thankfulness. Try it. You’ll be thankful you did.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.