Gratitudeنمونہ

God doesn't need our thanks

"I don’t need your thanks."

It came to me so clearly as I drove home, pondering the many scriptures that call us to offer God our gratitude and thanks. "What?" I thought, "Why the constant direction to gratitude?" I was striving to be thankful in all things, despite "all things" feeling like a truck running over my heart again and again.

I have so many incredible examples in my life of people who lead with a grateful heart. I was trying, but to be honest, my thanks to God felt empty. One night, when the grief felt all-consuming, I took out my journal. I lamented "all the things" I had hoped for in my life and poured out my disappointment for "all the things" I had received. I wrote and wrote until the energy in my body had dissipated. I felt God’s peace and compassion for the pain I was in, but then His whisper came.

"What about the good things that have come out of these hardships?" I began to write. And write. I was amazed to reflect on the incredible gifts birthed in these hard times. It was a powerful experience of the inner strength that comes from a grateful heart. Things started to land. Our God is so good! And He knows it. He’s not insecure. He does not need our reassurance or affirmation. He does not need our thanks or to feel understood to be who He is. He is who He is, irrespective of our praise.

He calls us to thankfulness for our sake, not His. He is love, and His love is directed our way. He knows that a grateful heart is a resilient heart. He sees the pain we face, and He knows the only way through is to abide in the truth of His heart. Here, we find rest. Thank you, Father, for "all the things."

Written by REBEKAH ROBINSON