OVERCOMING ADVERSITY SERIES 3

The Power of Gratitude

“In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” (1 Thessalonians 5:18)

Gratitude is one of the most powerful tools at our disposal to overcome adversity and create a desirable future. It is easy to be thankful when everything is going on well in your life. How about when things are not going on well in our lives?

If you are overwhelmed right now by challenges in your life, it can be really difficult to find things to be grateful for. When life seems to be dumping hardships all over you, feeling grateful may seem as something far beyond reach for anyone.

So, how can someone stay thankful when adversity visits?
Start by being thankful for what you have. You need to recognise what you have if we are to experience the victory you desire over adverse circumstances. You are never without anything...there is always something you can be thankful for. Always!

When adversity visited Job (he lost everything except his life and his wife in one day), his initial response was to show appreciation to God and bless Him. Take a read:

"Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped, and said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.” (Job 1:20-21)

When Apostle Paul and his associate were beaten and cast into prison for doing no wrong, they did not allow their crisis to put them down. They praised God in that situation and God brought them deliverance.

“And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them. And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed” (Acts 16:25-26).

We can use the same example (call it strategy, if you like) to experience our desired change. Complaining and blaming all other is not going to help you overcome the situation. It will rather perpetuate it. But when you unleash the spirit of gratitude you will feel empowered to take charge of your life.

When faced with adversity, decide to appreciate what you already have. Your appreciation will help you build the capacity to learn, grow and overcome, not only in the face of adversity, but because of it.

So, when you feel like things are not going the way you want, that you haven’t got what you want, that things seem not to be turning out as you intended or desire, try this: Focus your attention on what you do have. If you focus intentionally on what you have in your life that you value, you create new value. In other words, you will find new and greater significance for it. To put it simply, what you appreciate, appreciates.

On the other hand, if you focus your thought and attention on what you might have lost as a result of adversity, you will feel incapacitated and that will only serve to magnify the problem and prolong the pain. You will be robbed of the power to initiate change and thus perpetuate the problem, if not made worse.

Focus rather on things you are thankful for. As you begin to focus on the resources you have (for example, supportive friends and family, your ability to think, your education and training, etc) for which you are thankful, you open yourself up to new opportunities and possibilities.

When you cultivate an attitude of gratitude, you will not only transform your world, but also the world of those around you.

I see God do for you what he did for Paul and the others as you put on the attitude of gratitude irrespective of your circumstances. You shall experience divine help. Have a great day, and look forward to the next post in this series. (See also my blog post on "Be Thankful").
Every blessing...