It is a natural progression of thought to go from recognizing God’s faithful unfailing love for us to spontaneously express gratitude for His work on our behalf. However, it takes a while for that sense of gratitude to overcome our fears of the bad news and the helplessness and hopelessness that can dominate our immediate thoughts. But we can trust God to open our eyes to see those reasons we have to be grateful and resist focusing only on the bad news.
God not only gives us the gift of faith and repentance, He also gives us the gift of having a grateful heart. Without deliberation, thankfulness became a natural condition for me. When I was extremely fatigued and we found a parking space close to the hotel or hospital, I said “thank you for this, Lord.” When we had to park far out, I said “thank you for helping me to get the exercise I need to build up my stamina.” I was grateful when we did not have to wait long for a blood draw, or to be called for the chemo infusion to begin. I was grateful when we had to wait for what seemed to be a very long time, because I needed to learn the virtue of patience, and because I believed God was answering my prayer that others in greater need would be called ahead of me. When I was able to get on the clinical trial drug, I would not say I have to go to University of Michigan Cancer Center for tests (an 5hour trip if I drive, or a 12-hour train trip), but rather, I get to go to UMCC for tests. A sense of gratitude for how God is working out all things for the good is infectious and can alter your attitude in a powerfully positive way.
While you are undoubtedly familiar with Philippians 4:6-7, you might not have noticed its call to have an attitude for gratitude embedded in this well-known passage. Here it is in the Amplified Bible (bracketed material is in this version):
6 Do not be anxious or worried about anything, but in everything [every circumstance and situation] by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, continue to make your [specific] requests known to God. 7 And the peace of God [that peace which reassures the heart, that peace] which transcends all understanding, [that peace which] stands guard over your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus [is yours].
The part of this verse that captivated my mind during my journey was “...with thanksgiving...” What is it about expressing gratitude as part of the prayer that leads to delivering “the peace of God which transcends all understanding?” Scientists are discovering evidence of the healing power of gratitude:
Recognizing and giving thanks for the positive aspects of life can result in improved mental, and ultimately physical, health in patients with asymptomatic heart failure, according to research published by the American Psychological Association. “We found that more gratitude in these patients was associated with better mood, better sleep, less fatigue and lower levels of inflammatory biomarkers related to cardiac health,” said lead author Paul J. Mills, PhD, professor of family medicine and public health at the University of California, San Diego. The study was published in the journal Spirituality in Clinical Practice.... “We found that spiritual well-being was associated with better mood and sleep, but it was the gratitude aspect of spirituality that accounted for those effects, not spirituality per se,” said Mills. To further test their findings, the researchers asked some of the patients to write down three things for which they were thankful most days of the week for eight weeks. Both groups continued to receive regular clinical care during that time. “We found that those patients who kept gratitude journals for those eight weeks showed reductions in circulating levels of several important inflammatory biomarkers, as well as an increase in heart rate variability while they wrote. Improved heart rate variability is considered a measure of reduced cardiac risk,” said Mills. It seems that a more grateful heart is indeed a more healthy heart, and that gratitude journaling is an easy way to support cardiac health.” http://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2015/04/grateful-heart.aspx
God created us in such a way that our recognition of and gratitude for the mercies he bestows on us each day (Lamentations 3:22-23) actually makes us more aware of other mercies in the form of mental, physical and spiritual benefits. We need only to open our eyes of faith to see these tender mercies provided to us in our hour of need to be spontaneously grateful for God’s unfailing love for us. Perhaps this constant “attitude of gratitude” is what Paul had in mind in 1 Thessalonians 5:18 when he said, “give thanks in all circumstances for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” All circumstances, seen through the eyes of faith, are covered under God’s promise that he will be with us throughout the good and bad times. It is then God’s will that we have faith that He is there, even when the circumstances are at their most dire state and can be thankful that He is.
At a very low point during my chemo infusions my physical appearance was specter like— emaciated, pale, hairless (even my eyebrows had lost all their hair), and weak. I remember my wife leaning over to kiss me goodnight and her tears falling on my face saying: “It hurts me so much to see you suffer like this.” I said, “No Sweetheart, God is very near, we are very blessed and have so much to be thankful for.” I thought of this during my devotional this morning when I read in Psalm 84:5-7:
Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.
As they pass through the Valley of Baka,
they make it a place of springs;
the autumn rains also cover it with pools.
They go from strength to strength,
till each appears before God in Zion.
The “Valley of Baca” is translated as “The Valley of Tears,” so this psalmist is saying that as we go through our times of suffering and tears on our earthly pilgrimage, we are blessed by a God who can turn our tears into “a place of springs.” He is very near, providing the strength we need on the journey, transforming the suffering into victory when we reach the pilgrimage’s end “before Him in Zion.”
My sense of gratitude has grown over the time I have been dealing with my disease. For sure, it was deeply felt when reflecting on how God blessed my surgeons and oncologists whose expertise has made it possible for me to be alive now 9 years after my diagnosis to write what you are now reading (only 22% of people with my sarcoma are alive 2 years after diagnosis). That is truly life-and-death level of blessings for which to be thankful. But I’ve come to be aware of and grateful for all God’s mercies, big and small, He delivers in abundance each and every day.
Once when I was in a Sabbath School class and suffering from the side effects of the clinical trial drug, I became nauseous had to leave in the middle of the lesson study. As I made my way out to the parking lot I vomited 5 or 6 times before getting to our car. I felt very grateful that I had not gotten sick in the class, did not get vomit on my suit, did not need to vomit once in the car, and recovered quickly once we were home. I felt I had much for which to be thankful because I could see God’s hand at work even during that small episode of unpleasantness. The fact that I was able to be on a clinical trial drug that extended my life was alone a reason for starting each day with my prayer: “Thank you, Lord, for another day of life.” That honest expression of profound gratitude continues to be my first conscious thought and prayer each morning.
Recently, Cooper, our Golden Retriever, snuggled up to me in bed early in the morning and I prayed “Thank you, Lord, for the gift of ‘now.’” Since then, I have had many occasions to be grateful for the “nows” during a day. Each time I express gratitude for these gifts I am drawing nearer to God, and He to me (James 4:8). When that happens, it is though a shield of love surrounds me, driving out fear (1 John 4:18). Gratitude is, once again, an antidote for fear.
I have begun to “front load” my expressions of gratitude when facing adversity by saying “Thank you Lord for what you are about to do,” whenever I am in need. When I had to have an emergency blood transfusion at 4am during the time I was having chemo infusions I thanked God on the way to the hospital for already putting the health care workers in place to deliver the aid I needed. That gratitude did not waver when I arrived and found the workers included a nurse fresh out of nursing school and another with a severe cold (the chemo had drastically reduced by white blood cell count, making any infection a grave threat). After all, He is answering my prayers to put me in other peoples’ path to deliver help to them despite all my frailties and shortcomings, so how can I question His choice of people to come to my aid? I was told the blood transfusion probably saved my life and went perfectly. Gratitude and trust seem to come to me as a package deal now.
All of this puts me in mind of Habakkuk 3:17-19 where he concludes his prayer with a description of what it is like to have gratitude (and trust) even when getting a seemingly unending series of bad news:
17 Though the fig tree does not bud
and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
and no cattle in the stalls,
18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
I will be joyful in God my Savior.
19 The Sovereign Lord is my strength;
he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
he enables me to tread on the heights.
I’ve found that expressing gratitude by performing an act of service in close proximity to receiving bad news is the surest way of finding a reason to be “joyful” in the face of adversity. The day after I received the news that my cancer had metastasized, I answered a call to be a United Way volunteer to help flood victims in our area access financial assistance from local charities. A day spent like that not only can lift your spirits, but it can also enable you to “tread on the heights” by serving others who are dealing with their own bad news events.
In fact, just as gratitude journaling generates positive health benefits as referenced above, the same is true for volunteering. Over the past two decades, a growing body of research indicates that volunteering provides not just social benefits, but individual health benefits as well. This research has established a strong relationship between volunteering and health: those who volunteer have lower mortality rates, enjoy a sense of purpose and fulfillment, have greater functional ability, reduced stress levels, and lower rates of depression later in life than those who do not volunteer (http://createthegood.org/articles/volunteeringhealth). Performing an act of service to people in need when you get your bad news event could be a needed balm to your soul and could be doubly beneficial when you record it in a gratitude journal to remind yourself of how God’s mercies “are new every morning”.
When I declare my heartfelt allegiances to God, I will face all life’s bad news events with him by my side. He absorbs the brunt of those troubles, letting through to me only that which can work together for the good to build my character on the path to heaven. Being grateful under any and all circumstances in which you find yourself really does provide a peace that transcends our understanding, and puts a guard around your heart, mind, and body, providing an antidote for despair; “You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!” Isaiah 26:3 NLT
