With God's Presence, We always have something to be grateful for

Thoughts from Bob Goff's #LiveInGraceWalkInLove day 313

Today, Goff is talking about gratitude. I don't think it's unrelated to yesterday's talk about joy. Like joy, gratitude isn't always a natural feeling or emotion that sweeps over us when life is good. Sometimes, we are challenged to look deep into our 'life ain't so good' moments and find something to be grateful for in spite of feeling like there's little to give thanks for.

I have to tell you. It's been a challenging week for me on many fronts. But yesterday was Friday - the week was finally coming to an end - I make that Friday traffic-filled trip up 95 from downtown and the week would be over. Hello weekend!

I safely made it through the accidents and weekend travelers and pulled into my driveway. I reached into my back seat where I always toss my backpack at the end of the day - and it wasn't there. In my mind going in a million different directions yesterday, I left work without it. The first time ever.

I keep my life in that backpack. My computer. My books I'm reading. Stuff I needed to prepare for a work conference next week. It wasn't an option, I had to make the trip back downtown and back home again.

You talk about what felt like the worst possible 'life ain't so good moment.' Trust me, I know people have worse life ain't so good going on in their lives - but in the moment, mine felt disastrous.

As I headed back down the road, I decided to crank up my Christian music and try to drown the rest of the world out. Before I knew it, I was singing along, even though I absolutely had no desire to be singing. One day before I read this morning's scripture - I will praise God's name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving - I was doing just that for all the I-95 weekend travelers to witness.

I suddenly felt God's presence. And with that, I suddenly realized there is always something to be grateful for.

You know, I'm really guilty sometimes of waiting for God to change my situation before I'm grateful to him. My gratitude comes with an if-then clause.

But yesterday, I discovered what David discovered centuries ago when he wrote many of the Psalms like this morning's. David discovered gratitude isn't about what God does with our situations. Instead, it's no matter what the situation is, God is always there with us and for us and and watching over us whether our situation feels like he is or not.

I made it back downtown. I got my backpack and began the trip back home. The traffic was worse than ever - the accidents more plentiful - so I just sang. I just sang a little louder - and probably worse than ever .