How to Be Thankful When You Don’t Feel Thankful
We’re approaching Thanksgiving and an overall season of joy, family, and celebration. But it can also be a season of stress, anxiety, and loneliness.
We know we’re supposed to feel thankful, but sometimes we don’t. Then we feel guilty about it and end up feeling even worse. Suddenly, we’re spiraling out of control.
How are we supposed to be thankful when we don’t feel thankful?
A Lesson from the Israelites
In the Old Testament, the Israelites struggled time and time again with being grateful. But God constantly gave them the key to being thankful when they weren’t feeling thankful.
In Deuteronomy chapter 8, God gave the Israelites this key four different times. The chapter contains four main sections. Here’s the tl;dr summary of the chapter:
vv. 1-5 - “Israel, you experienced some painful stuff after forty years in the wilderness, and you might not feel very thankful. But remember the Lord—I fed you, clothed you, even protected your tired feet.”
vv. 6-18 - “Yet now, I’m bringing you into the rich land I promised you, and you’ll experience wonderful things. You will lack nothing. But be careful. Don’t forget the Lord and my commands, or you will become proud. Remember the Lord because I have given you all of this.”
vv. 19-20 - “Don’t forget the Lord, or I will turn away from you.”
What’s the secret to being thankful when you’re not feeling thankful?
Remember God –who He is, what He’s done for you, and what it means to follow Him.
What about Us?
We often have trouble feeling thankful because we take our eyes off God and put them on circumstances, people, and problems. And there are two everyday situations when this happens.
When Things Are Bad
The Israelites had the wilderness, and we have COVID, stress, job loss, online anger, and more. Where there are thousands of ways life could be hard for you, what do you do?
When things are bad, look for God’s hand, not theirs.
In difficult times, we tend to look for someone to blame for our problems—bosses, family members, politicians, whoever. And then we shift our attention to them instead of focusing on God.
But this passage tells you to remember what he has done for you, how much he loves you, and the hope he gives you in the future.
When Things Are Good
The Israelites also had the promised land, a life better than any one of them had ever experienced. But when things are good, we are equally at risk of drifting our eyes away from God.
We start taking pride in our accomplishments, just like the Israelites. But there’s a solution for that also.
When things are good, look for God’s hand, not yours.
It’s not your hard work that got you that promotion, and it’s not your good behavior that earned those blessings. It’s not your efforts that got you good grades or good kids or good friends. These are all gifts from God.
A Final Word
When things are bad, we blame others, and when things are good, we congratulate ourselves. But when you keep your eyes on God—in your past, present, and future—you’ll be able to be thankful even when you don’t feel thankful.
