Living in Gratitude
Psalms 90:12 (ISV)
“…teach us to keep account of our days so we may develop inner wisdom.”
Challenges hit us back and forth. You never are really out of the conundrum.
One minute, the challenge is leaving your father’s house. The escape route? Passing UTME and gaining admission to study in a higher institution feels like the answer.
You are in now! You have the much-treasured admission now.
The next big thing is to graduate because you are tired of the academic system.
While this happens, single people who are not yet in a relationship wish they are already in a relationship.
Single-but-in-a-relationship folks wish they are married.
Concurrently, the next challenge is getting a good job — next, a good house.
Next, you marry.
Married folks wish they were single a few years after the big day.
The intimacy single individuals think only marriage brings will not come if they don’t work on themselves while still single.
When you marry, challenges will creep in again.
Kids come in. You feel cheated. Why? Your wife doesn’t seem to give you the kind of attention you used to get. She now has a husband, and a baby, maybe babies to cater for.
You, as the man, have to cater for three people now, maybe more. Your dear wife and baby(ies) mustn’t suffer.
The prayer cycle never really ends. Now you think life would have been better if you were not married.
Do you see the game the Devil is playing with you?
He keeps making you wish things were better. You keep longing for a future you’d eventually be unsatisfied with. The loop never really ends.
You are never really happy in the present.
God knows this, so what is his prescribed antidote?
Thanksgiving!
Ephesians 5:18–20
Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Why does Paul use ‘…drunk with wine’ for the church at Ephesus, whom he instructed to be imitators of God, as dearly loved children?
Wine is a solace, a temporary escape from the present, a drift from reality, and an excellent elixir for the in-time, present-day challenge, especially when in a drunken state.
Our response when we are faced with challenges?
While others opt to be drunk with wine for some momentary happiness, our response should be a song; a piece of music from our heart to the Lord — a thanksgiving for ‘everything’ in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Problem no dey finish…
Psalm 107:1–3 (ESV)
Oh give thanks to the LORD, for He is good, for His steadfast love endures forever! Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom He has redeemed from trouble and gathered in from the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south.
Philippians 4:6–7
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Be anxious for nothing! Give thanks in every situation.
Luke 12:25
And which of you with taking thought can add to his stature one cubit?
David had just defeated Goliath and had become famous among the Israelites. Suddenly, King Saul is against him and wants to kill him. During this period, David passed up several opportunities to kill Saul, who in turn was attempting to kill his young rival, whose followers believed God had chosen to succeed him.
Guess who saved him in one of the occasions when he escaped? The same Michal you only know about because she scorned David’s dance saved David from the sword of her own father. 1Sam 19:11.
1 Samuel 22
David flees to the cave of Adullam. Soon his brothers and other relatives joined him there. Others began coming — men who were in trouble or debt or just discontented — until David was the captain of about 400 men.
What kind of CV is this, David must have asked. Troubled men! Men in debt!! Restlessly unhappy men!!! What?
You know what?
David did not drown himself in depression. Instead, he turned them into his 400 mighty warriors. 2 Samuel 23:8–39, 1 Chronicles 11:10–47 gives a sneak peek into how powerful they turned out to be. Eleazar ben Dodo the Ahohite, Shammah ben Agee the Hararite, Abishai ahi Joab ben Zeruiah, and Benaiah ben Jehoiada were leaders of David’s revolutionary movement.
Their works are so scary, and you can compare what they achieved side-by-side with Samson’s exploits.
My point is, what if David had lost fate in these men initially? Remember, David encouraged himself in the Lord in another instance. 1 Samuel 30:6.
Don’t forget the beautiful things God did the other day. Oops! It doesn’t matter anymore? You thought you would hang your head in shame, yet God saved you. Don’t forget!
Psalm 103:2. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget none of His benefits.
Psalm 78:7. That they should put their confidence in God, and not forget the works of God.
God is doing a work now that you cannot see.
Until Elisha asked God to open his servant’s eyes to see the hills full of horses and chariots of fire guarding them on the mountain in 2 Kings 6:17, his servant thought they were doomed for destruction at the sight of the King of Syria’s mighty men.
You are so absent in the present, anxious about the future that might ultimately not give you the ecstasy your projection thinks will come with it.
Why not Be happy NOW? NOW is what you have in reality.
Give thanks NOW about the NOW. Learn it NOW else you won’t see a need to when THE FUTURE comes.
What about the past?
You are handsome/beautiful. You did everything you thought should be done right in your previous relationship, yet you got jilted.
While this is painful, have you heard others tell their own stories too?
You won’t let young prospects around and won’t let them near your cycle one bit. All the opposite sex have become predators in your eyes. Why?
God is speaking, BUT you won’t listen.
Be careful, but God is working on your would-be partner too.
Don’t jeopardize a fantastic future with a past you have absolutely no control over.
Please, don’t be so absent in the present, constantly upsetting it with traumas from the past.
Enjoy THE NOW!
Your current life is someone else’s prayer point. Remember?
Colossians 2:6–7
So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and ‘overflowing with thankfulness.’
Colossians 3:15–17
Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Colossians 4:2
Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.
1 Thessalonians 5:16–18
Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
Hebrews 12:28–29
Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our “God is a consuming fire.”
Hebrews 13:15–16
Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise — the fruit of lips that openly profess his name. And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.
Am I in any way saying you shouldn’t want to live a better life? Definitely not.
While you do the right things, be thankful for the now.
There is always something to be grateful to God for.
Indeed, we do not keep an account of our days regretting missed opportunities or wishing we have a better life. Thanksgiving is the way to keep an account of our days, which is probably why birthday celebrations are celebrations, not sober moments.
Herein lies wisdom!
