THANK YOU – Is much more than just a polite gesture (thank you).  It’s a feeling, a choice, a humble attitude, a lifestyle.  It’s a blessing to both the person who gives because he/she is thankful and the person who is appreciative because they have received.

It’s a word so common and undervalued that it often gets trampled over the word ENTITLEMENT.  If we stop for a moment to reflect on all life’s blessings, we can come to the realization that we have more than enough.  Maybe we don’t have everything we want, but I am confident to say that most of us have everything we need.

  I am often reminded of a phrase my friend William Green would say on those days when my attitude revealed my ingratitude.  To knock some sense into me he’d say, “You’re a millionaire Dan.”  I would quickly realize that I had an incorrect attitude toward a current circumstance.  Although I may not be a millionaire in dollars, for sure I am a millionaire in blessings, God, life, family, and friends.  The list is endless.

  Is our need for ENTITLEMENT blinding us from the everyday reasons to be THANKFUL?  By no means am I referring to our entitlement to human rights.  My objective with this is to challenge us to carefully reflect on how we take some things for granted, and to help us look at undesirable circumstances from a new perspective.

  A passage found in 1 Thessalonians 5:18 says, “Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus”.  Wait a minute…How about when things don’t go our way?  During those circumstances there’s no reason to be THANKFUL!  Or what about when life hasn’t turned out the way we’ve planned?  How could anyone be THANKFUL about that?  Yup, the Word says to “Be thankful in all circumstances!”  Remember the old saying, “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.”  Easier said than done, right?

  If we begin to look at things from God’s perspective, we would see that He ordains, directs, and permits every circumstance in our lives for our very own good.  Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that all that happens to us is working for our good if we love God and are fitting into His plans”.  So, in other words, our lives are like a piece of a puzzle; they are designed to fit in only one place.  Remember when we were kids and tried to fit similar shaped puzzle pieces into the wrong place?  That’s exactly what some of us try to do our entire lives!

  It could be seen as if God were in heaven looking down and saying, “I’m God.  I made you the way I want you to be, with a unique shape and purpose to fit a special place in this world.”  Why is it that we don’t see things through God’s eyes?  Maybe if we did we would understand how God is in control!  We should be THANKFUL through all the undesirable circumstances in our lives.  Our response to life’s curve balls should not be, “Things were not supposed to happen this way!” Or “Why me?”  Is it just me, or are you feeling were I’m coming from?

  Check it out.  This is how I see it.  We have much trouble being THANKFUL during undesirable circumstances because our culture has conditioned us to think that we deserve everything we want.  We set our expectations very high for the things we feel we’re eligible for:   ENTITLEMENT!  And when things don’t go as planned, we are everything but THANKFUL!

  Really, why are the words “THANK YOU” said so meaninglessly at times?  STOP!!!  Take a deep breath and exhale.  Now, say THANK YOU.  Now how do you feel?  You feel great right?  Here’s my point.  Let’s slow down a bit in this race through life and just appreciate the small details we so often overlook.  Let’s look at life’s next undesirable circumstance from a new perspective and realize that God allows it, and that He uses these situations to teach us endurance, patience, trust, etc.  We really do have much to be THANKFUL for.

  My prayer for us today is that we take a moment to reflect on our lives and truly see how blessed we are.  And that we take time to express through our words and actions just how THANKFUL we are.  Even in your worst moments say, THANK YOU JESUS!

From The Heart, Dan Chavez