“I have learned that in every circumstance that comes my way, I can choose to respond in one of two ways: I can whine or I can worship! And I can’t worship without giving thanks. It just isn’t possible. When we choose the pathway of worship and giving thanks, especially in the midst of difficult circumstances, there is a fragrance, a radiance, that issues forth out of our lives to bless the Lord and others.” – Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth, from Choosing Gratitude: Your Journey to Joy

One of the ladies in God-Living Girls anonymously sent me a copy last year of this excellent book by Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth on walking in gratitude. As I walk through some major adjustments this year after the loss of our special-needs son David last November, I have picked up this book again to help me as I continue through this season of emotional numbness. I recognize it’s my choice how I will walk through this time of new direction in our lives, and I want this to be a year of blessing the Lord with my words and my life. As the words of a song we have been singing recently at our church say, “Yes I will lift You high in the lowest valley, Yes I will bless Your name. Oh, yes I will sing for joy when my heart is heavy. For all my days, oh yes I will.”

No matter what you are currently walking through, you have a choice to make concerning your attitude as you walk through it. Ann Voskamp said, “Gratitude is not only a response to God in good times – it’s ultimately the very will of God in the midst of whatever challenges we’re facing, we need to be people who give thanks.”

God wants to meet us where we are – whether in the deepest valley or the mountaintop experience. But God doesn’t force us to do His will. He gives us the freedom of choice to say “Yes” or “No” to what pleases Him. I am saying “Yes” to making this a season of worship and gratitude, and I hope you will join me in this decision… because no matter what you are currently walking through, God is still good. He is still loving. He is still faithful. And He still deserves an attitude of gratefulness and praise from His children.

If giving thanks is based on our circumstances, our lives will be up one day and down the next. This isn’t how God calls us to live. But when we worship God in the midst of the pain, we are expressing confidence that even this will be molded in God’s capable hands for our good and for His glory. When we express thanks to God while walking through a circumstance we don’t like, we are demonstrating faith and trust that God is in control and acknowledging His Lordship in our lives. When we choose to be intentionally observant about the things in our lives for which we should be grateful, we are choosing a life of pleasing God instead of a self-focused life.

I’m walking through a season when giving thanks to God every day must be an intentional choice, so I’m making time in my busy schedule to read one chapter a week in Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth’s book Choosing Gratitude: Your Journey to Joy. I’ll probably be sharing some of the insights I receive from this book in future Thankful Thursday posts. I will also continue using the app Gratitude as a part of my daily quiet time, because being grateful must be an intentional choice in my life right now.

If you’re walking through a season where being grateful must be intentional, ask God to show you what He wants you to do to grow in this discipline of giving thanks in every situation. Remember, giving God thanks during the hard times is a declaration – to our emotions, to those watching our lives, and to the enemy of our souls who wants us to ignore this instruction from God’s Word – that we believe God is good, no matter what we are walking through.