Thursday November 22, 2018

 

What are some of the things in your life that at one time you marveled at but now you complain about? A job, a car, property, a spouse, maybe a child? Remember how happy you were when you got that job? But now you complain about it. Remember the day you got married?  You felt as though your spouse was the answer to your prayers but today you complain about your spouse.  Or maybe it was the birth of your child. Can you remember the emotions you felt caring for that child for the first time? But now you complain about them. What once marveled you now you complain about.

 

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. – 1 Thessalonians 5: 16-18 NIV

 

Nowadays everyone has something to complain about. The liberals complain about the conservatives. The poor complain about the rich and the rich about the poor. Neighbors complain about each other, workers about their co-workers, and friends complain about their enemies. Just pick up a newspaper or turn on the news and you will find someone complaining about something. It is difficult perhaps even impossible to express gratitude when you are complaining about the very thing or person you say that you appreciate. To make matters worse, complaining not only leads to ungratefulness or at least the perception of ungratefulness, it also leads to stress, anxiety, fear, anger, arguments, and quarrels. So, why do we complain so much?

 

The inverse is that gratefulness leads to joy. I recently read a study conducted by Dr. BernéBrown, a research professor at the University of Houston. After interviewing more than eleven thousand people over a 12-year period, Dr. Brown said that the most important thing she discovered was the relationship between gratefulness and joy.  She assumed that her studies would conclude that joy leads to gratefulness. But to her surprise the results were totally opposite. What she discovered was that gratefulness lead to joy. She said that after thousands of interviews, she did not find a single person who described themself as joyful who did not actively practice gratefulness. I have to assume that most of these joyful people had things they could complain about. However, they decided to find things to be grateful about and they actively and consistently practiced gratefulness.

 

Dr. Brown would later state that the study’s conclusion radically changed hers and her family’s lives. They began to intentionally practice gratefulness. Not just as a feeling or an emotion, but rather in words and actions. Now, every night, Dr. Brown and her family sit at the table and before they eat their meal, they thank God and then each one of the family members takes a moment to verbally express what they are thankful for that day. She has been doing this for years now and ended her study by stating that gratefulness has invited joy into her home.

 

I would like to thank every one of you for taking time out of your schedule to read these blogs. Thank you and may God bless you.

 

 

 

CDA Miami wishes you a very happy and blessed Thanksgiving!

We’d also like to invite you to enjoy our Thanksgiving online service in the company of your family and friends, or anybody you’d like to share it with. The service will be available on our Facebook page or our YouTube channel beginning at 9am tomorrow.

May you enjoy this celebration with your family full of joy and peace.