I’m banking on thankfulness—even though thankfulness was the furthest thing from my mind as I sat in an Urgent Care, bleeding profusely. Especially when the nurse asked me not to get blood on the floor.
Anger shot through me as blood dripped from almost every orifice on my face. A vessel in my nose had ruptured, and it bled like a water hose. Worse yet, no one at the Urgent Care seemed concerned about the severity of my issue. Instead, they dawdled while a puddle of blood formed at my feet. So, when the receptionist asked if I could move to the waiting room—with blood gushing—thankfulness was nowhere in my vocabulary. It was more a, “Oh, for Pete’s sake.”
The apostle Paul begins his book to the Colossians with a word of thanks. He wanted them to know how much their faithfulness and love meant to him and that he always thanked God for them. Even when Paul suffered hardship, he remained thankful. To his credit, it sometimes seemed as though his joyfulness was superhuman.
I’d failed to remember to be thankful—even in the face of difficulty.
We often lose sight of being grateful. It’s easy to get caught up in the moment when things are not rolling the way we’d hoped. Even when we may be justified in our frustration, it doesn’t change the fact that we need to be thankful in every situation.
Difficulty doesn’t diminish thankfulness. I’m the first to admit that when hardship attacks, it’s difficult. But even in the face of imminent death, Christ was thankful. I might not have received the care I needed in an appropriate time frame, but there was a room full of others in need. Healthcare workers were doing the best they could. Where was my gratitude for their efforts? It’s easy to justify my frustration, but really, is it justifiable?
The holidays always bring an added gift of kindness. Take hold of it as if it were the hand of God reaching down, and remember to be truly thankful even in the face of hardship. Grateful. Joyful. After all, Christ was.
In all things, give thanks.
(photo courtesy of pixabay and geralt.)
(For more devotions, visit Christian Devotions.)
Cindy K. Sproles is a best-selling, award-winning author. She is a speaker and a conference teacher who teaches nationwide. Cindy is the cofounder of Christian Devotions Ministries, www.christiandevotions.us, and www.inspireafire.com. She serves as a writing mentor with WRAMS (Writing Write Author Mentoring Service) and is the director of the Asheville Christian Writers Conference. Visit Cindy at www.cindysproles.com.