Just What Brings Us To Gratitude?

DEPRESSED beyond measure, at a time when there is clearly no sight for hope, the enemy climbs aboard the back of the disciple trying their best. But, for a lack of perspective, there is a gaping vulnerability. What is to be done?

Spiritual attack makes the nemesis look gnarly. Soon there are direct suggestions. These suggestions for action begin to be pondered; dangerous ground is encroached.

There is a reaching out. There has to be. It cannot remain this way. With sharks circling and wolves bearing their teeth, respite from danger often makes us run the other way directly into another form of danger. Sensing this, with no option, we just get fretful. What is to be done?

Then there is the pain component. Honesty within integrity suggests we cannot deny the element that pains us — we cannot push it to the background in the hope it will go away. So we wrestle. It never feels good, but we wrestle in the hope one day we’ll be handsomely compensated by what we’ve learned or rewarded by God somehow.

There, where we search, coming up empty-handed time and again, is found gratitude.

What brings us to gratitude is the search. It may be a serendipitous find, but it’s a rich find all the same. We are grateful we have found the means by which our motivation and inspiration can be nurtured and established. Our application of gratitude is not perfect by any means, but we’re learning as God is equipping us.

We’re learning, perhaps most of all, that gratitude is perspective, or latitude:

Gratitude makes for latitude,

The very hope for life,

With latitude for gratitude,

We have a hopeful way through strife.

What brings us to gratitude is the search for something better. Having dealt with seasons of anxiety, depression, grief, and other mental ills, we’ve become sick and tired of being sick and tired.

We sensed there was something more, and with courage to blaze a new trail, on a sunlit day within our soul, we set out on that intrepid journey.

That something more is gratitude — to list those things we can be incredibly thankful for, even if, for the time being, we aren’t.

Gratitude is the seed of hope compelling forward the nurturance of joy and peace.

Gratitude coalesces with thankfulness, expanding our worldview, embodied with hope.

Gratitude is the will to break past fear in order to break forward into praise.

© 2015 Steve Wickham.