Photo by Spencer Watson on Unsplash
IMPOSSIBLE concepts are not foreign
in the Kingdom of God, but of course impossibilities in a worldly context are
possibilities where God reigns.
Gratitude in the time of grief, for
instance, is possible as a concept in the Kingdom of God, but the world generally
thinks that’s absurd. Such a concept is both bizarre and yet, we know, really
the only way forward. So, what seems impossible is also the only thing that
makes new life possible.
How do we do this mysterious
practice of gratitude amid grief?
By faith. Simply, we express
gratitude when we would rather complain. We look for reasons to be thankful. We
practice the thing that seems impossible, and in practicing it, we prove to
ourselves it is possible.
Sure, there are times in an entire
season of grief where we simply cannot be grateful. That’s to be expected. The
point is we keep it within our mind’s eye sight, always endeavouring to return
to it. We never hold it so far away that it feels ‘impossible’.
The nuts and bolts of gratitude are
in the itty biddy things of life. If anything, grief transforms our perspective
overnight. Grief makes it possible that we would begin to see the smaller things
that we too regularly overlooked.
When we’re thankful for what we would
normally take for granted, we’re helped in our grief. Many things are
impossible in grief, and gratitude appears to be one of them. But as soon as we
engage ourselves in it, God teaches us it’s not only possible, but He teaches
us that gratitude helps give our lives perspective, and now when we need it
most.
Perhaps we can think of grief as
the ideal time to engage intentionally in gratitude. Our world is turned upside
down. No typical thinking system will make sense. But gratitude will. By faith.
Believe it can help, and keep believing, and it will help. Sooner or later we’re
convinced.
Gratitude helps us cut a way through
a mountain that feels impossible to climb.
We are not grateful for the loss we
have suffered, but we may choose gratitude to make coping easier.
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