Cultivating the habit

"I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart:  I will recount all of Your wonderful deeds. I will be glad and exult in You; I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High." (Ps.9:1-2)

Did you happen to notice that little word "will?"  I will give thanks. I will recount all Your wonderful deeds. I will be glad and exult in You. I will sing praise to Your name.  In case we needed reminding--gratitude and thanksgiving are an act of our wills. We must choose to be grateful as opposed to grumbling. We must choose to see--to purposely open our eyes to look for and notice--God's wonderful deeds in our lives. We must choose to engage in the act of singing praises to our Lord. 

Thankfulness does not happen by default. Not ever. We must choose by an act of our will to see, to savor, to sing, to give thanks, to remember, to recite God's gifts and goodness in our lives and in this world. 

Here's how Jon Bloom explains it: "Cultivating gratitude is not easy. We all need help, and thank God help is available. but there is no thankfulness hack--no four easy steps to a grateful heart. It's as hard as habit-building. We begin to train our heart-eyes to look for God's grace--in all circumstances. This looking becomes habitual. And habits are being built by doing them every day. We get incrementally better at them as the days gradually accumulate to months, and months to years. They become more and more a part of us over time."  

Yep, it's as simple (and sometimes challenging) as that--cultivating a habit of gratitude. Asking God to show us and to help us to be relentlessly thankful people. Then we choose to open up our eyes and look around--because God's goodness and glory are, quite literally, everywhere.  And we give Him thanks. Daily. Habitually. Even when it's hard. Because there is always, always, always something for which we can give thanks. 

How about you start training your heart-eyes to look for God's grace...and then thank Him. Maybe even share your gratitude with someone else, because we all need encouragement. As Ann Voskamp always says, "Only speak words that make souls stronger."  Gratitude not only strengthens, but it's also contagious. (And the opposite is true--complaining always weakens, and sadly, it's just as contagious). 

It's never too late to begin cultivating this beautiful habit of thankfulness. So how about today? Not only will you be giving God glory, but you just might be strengthening some weary souls around you who desperately need it. 

To God be the glory.