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In Ecclesiastes 3:11, we read that God makes everything beautiful in its time. It is comforting to know that nothing is wasted in God's economy, but all of it will be used for our good and His glory. You're invited to join us for poignant conversations and compelling interviews centered on believing for His beauty in every season.
Shannon Scott (00:32)
Well, hello friends and welcome back to the Everything Made Beautiful podcast. On this Monday, as we're stepping into Thanksgiving week, I've got a question for you. When someone says, thanks a lot, what do you hear? Well, if you're like me, you hear sarcasm. You hear someone annoyed that you showed up late, forgot something or, you know, said something you didn't like. Thanks a lot has turned into one of those phrases that depending on how it's said,
could mean genuine gratitude, but usually is more a side-eye expression. But in actuality, thanks a lot is the posture we're supposed to have, no called to have, not the sarcastic kind, but the kind of thanks that truly transforms the way we live. Today, we're talking about gratitude, as you'd imagine we would on the week of Thanksgiving.
Now, this is not the fluffy kind of gratitude that says, everything's perfect, but the gritty, gut level gratitude that dares to say, God is still good, even when life is not. Unfortunately, this kind of gratitude doesn't come naturally. In fact, it's a muscle that must be exercised and a habit that must be formed, like getting up early to go to the gym or
choosing to go to bed at a decent hour when you're a night owl like me. So let's dig in a little bit. Let me start by saying this, gratitude is not equal to denial. I feel like oftentimes this time of year when someone says we should adopt an attitude of gratitude, then often we can be quick to say, no, that's just living in denial. But denial is a very different thing.
A person living in denial is like someone clinging to a raft in the middle of a stormy sea, refusing to acknowledge that the raft is leaking. They convince themselves that if they don't look at the cracks or the rising water, they won't sink. But denial doesn't stop the storm and it doesn't patch the raft, it just delays the inevitable reckoning of sinking.
Living in denial often creates an exhausting tug of war between reality and the illusions we build to avoid facing it. It can feel safer to pretend the hurt isn't there, the mistake didn't happen, or the loss doesn't ache. But denial doesn't erase pain. It buries it alive where it festers and grows. Denial keeps us stagnant, blocking us from growth and healing. It refuses to let light shine into the dark
corners of our hearts. And while it may feel like a shield against discomfort, it also locks out the hope, truth, and grace that can set us free. The gratitude we're talking about isn't denial, and it isn't pretending your life is perfect. Gratitude is choosing to see God's goodness even in the middle of life's imperfections. 1 Thessalonians 5 18 says,
Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. When our daughter Allie was little, there were several words she couldn't pronounce really well. And when we memorized this scripture as a family, she said, give thanks in all crinkle somethings. And now I can't read 1 Thessalonians 5 18 without hearing her little voice.
But notice this scripture doesn't say to give thanks for all circumstances or crinkle some things. It says in all circumstances and that little word makes all the difference. Paul isn't telling us to be thankful for a scary diagnosis, a fractured friendship, a difficult marriage or a financial disaster. He's saying that even in those moments we can find something to hold on to.
because God is as present there as he is when all is as we feel it should be. There's a term in psychology called reframing. It's the ability to look at the same situation from a different angle. And y'all, gratitude is the ultimate reframe. Take Joseph from the Old Testament. I mean, if anyone had a reason to throw a pity party and assume things weren't going to get better, it was that guy.
Sold by his brothers, falsely accused, forgotten in prison, the hits just kept on coming for Joseph. But at the end of it all, in Genesis 50-20, Joseph says to his brothers, you intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. That's reframing.
It's not blind optimism, it's not denial, and it's not spiritually bypassing something tragic or traumatic and denying its impact. Instead, Joseph adopted a faith-filled perspective. Now, granted, Joseph was saying this in retrospect, and I'd imagine that during his time in captivity, he wasn't always a ray of sunshine.
but we're given Joseph's story as a gift to help us as we consider how to reframe what we're going through and find the gratitude. It's understanding that two things can be true. This situation is incredibly difficult and is taking its toll, but God is still working because he doesn't ever stop and walk away. And that's enough for me and for you to say thank you.
When everything's going smoothly, we're like houseplants in winter. We're alive, but we're not really moving toward full maturity. When the storms come, when the heat gets turned up on our lives, that's when our roots have the chance to go deeper. Our faith gets stronger and our character gets refined. So even though we don't really grow in the easy seasons of our lives, the difficult ones,
Those are where the depth and maturity are formed. Our trials aren't just random suffering though, they're tools God uses to grow us. And gratitude says, God, I don't like this process, but I trust you're making me into someone who looks more like Jesus. So thanks for not letting me stay shallow. I'd be remiss if I didn't talk about gratitude in grief.
because for some of us, Thanksgiving week isn't about feasting, it's about surviving. It's about navigating the empty chair at the table, the memory of someone you lost or the ache of something you never had. Can I tell you something that you likely already know, but just in case, gratitude doesn't erase the pain nor is it intended to, but gratitude can anchor you in the storm of grief.
In Lamentations 3, 22 and 23, Jeremiah proclaims, because of the Lord's great love, we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness. Jeremiah wrote that while Jerusalem was in ruins. He was writing this after the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians.
Jeremiah wasn't sitting around a table in a cozy room with pumpkin pie. He was looking at devastation as far as the eye could see and saying, God, even now, you're faithful. That's gratitude. It's holding onto the thread of God's goodness when everything else feels frayed. In fact, a few books before the book of Jeremiah in scripture, we find the book of Job.
And Job's response to grief is one of the most profound examples we have in scripture of raw, unfiltered faith. After losing his children, his wealth, and even his health, Job finds himself in ashes, literally and figuratively. He was in physical and soul level ruin. And yet in the depths of his suffering, he says these hauntingly beautiful words in Job 13.15.
Though he slay me, yet I will hope in him. Think about that. Job doesn't sugarcoat his reality. He's not in denial about his pain or his confusion. He does not understand why God has allowed such devastation, but he acknowledges that his life is still in God's Though he slay me, yet I will hope in him.
His words aren't the gratitude of someone who just received a blessing. They're the gratitude of someone who knows that even in the absence of blessings, God is still worthy.
Job's statement is an act of surrender. It's a declaration that his faith isn't contingent on God meeting his expectations or protecting him from hardship. Gratitude here isn't about what Job has, it's about who God is. Job recognizes that even if God allows his life to be taken, his hope remains because God's character doesn't change. Can you say that? Can I?
This kind of gratitude is deeply uncomfortable, but it's also deeply freeing. It removes the transactional nature of our relationship with God, where we thank him only when things go our way, and replaces it with trust in his sovereignty. Job's response reminds us that gratitude isn't about everything being good. It's about trusting that God is good, even when life feels like it's falling apart.
Job's faith wasn't passive resignation, it was active trust. It was saying, God, even if I lose everything, you are still my everything. And that, my friends, is the kind of gratitude that sustains us in the darkest nights of the soul. You may have heard it said that worship is a weapon. And what is worship if not expressing praise and gratitude to God for who he is and what he's done?
I'll never forget the definition of worship that Louis Giglio gave us so many years ago in a Bible study we were in and he was teaching. He said, worship is our response to God for who he is and what he's done expressed in and by the things we say and the way we live. So gratitude is worship and therefore gratitude is a weapon.
It's a weapon against comparison, bitterness and despair, against your heart growing cold. It's a weapon against the temptation to view God as far away and unmoved by your pain. It's a weapon against being offended by God. When you're counting blessings, you don't have time to count offenses. When you're thanking God for what you have, the enemy has less room to convince you of what you lack.
Psalm 100 verse 4 says, enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise. Give thanks to him and praise his name. Gratitude ushers us into God's presence. It's the ultimate not today Satan. It's effectually saying to the enemy of your soul, nope, you can't sit here.
I've got no room for your lies and accusations when I'm busy worshiping the one who has you on a leash. This kind of gratitude is gritty. So how do we practice gritty gratitude? Well, let me give you three ways to begin with. The first, start small. Don't wait for the big moments or the big setbacks to give thanks. Start with the little ones.
Thank God for the breath in your lungs, the food on your table and the people around you. Even the ones who drive you nuts, which might be a little more up in the mix than usual this Thanksgiving. Secondly, speak it out loud. Gratitude grows when you share it. Tell God why you're thankful. Also tell someone, anyone, why you're thankful. And even better yet, why you're thankful for them.
Write it down, say it out loud in your prayers, send a note or text, post it. There's something powerful about our profession of thanksgiving out loud. And thirdly, look for the lesson. In every hard season, ask, what is God teaching me here? How is he shaping me? Get insight from others, search for truth in his word. You don't have to love the lesson.
but you can trust the teacher. So start small, speak it out loud, and look for the lesson. So friends, as we approach Thanksgiving, gratitude is not about feeling thankful. It's about choosing to be thankful. It's not easy to be certain, but it is beautiful. And when we live with a heart that says, thanks a lot to God in gritty gratitude,
we start to see that everything, even the messy stuff, is being made beautiful. Thanks a lot actually means there's a lot to be thankful for. So as you head into this week, whether you're surrounded by family or sitting quietly with your thoughts, let gratitude, gritty gratitude, lead the way. Not because everything's perfect, but because God is present. Remember,
Give thanks in all circumstances or all crinkle somethings. I'm thankful for you, friends. Thanks a lot for listening today. And I mean that in the most genuine way. I'll see you next time and happy Thanksgiving.