When Gratitude Is Hard

Good morning…

“Hope you are having a good summer,” she wrote. “When I read this, I thought of you. It reads like words you would write.”

What a kind compliment.

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a blessing for when gratitude is hard to come by, June 16th devotional by Kate Bowler

I have a complicated relationship with gratitude.

Gratitude, on one hand, is one of the most powerful tools for dealing with terrible things. On the other hand, gratitude can feel like a muzzle, something that people say to those who are suffering. “Aren’t you so grateful that you’re at a good hospital?” … “that you have such a good family?” … “for your other children” … and the list goes on.

…So here’s a blessing for when gratitude feels hard to come by:

God, I am struggling to find my way toward gratitude.

Help my heart find joy, for you know how much I need it.
Come meet us in our needs that weigh so heavily upon us.

Blessed are we who come to you just as we are,
with our loneliness and loss, our scarcity and sorrow,
and say God, there is just not enough.
Though we’re not even supposed to say it today,
there is just not enough to go on:
not enough money to pay bills,
not enough jobs, nor safety for those who have them,
not enough wisdom to find solutions,
not enough strength or comfort or connection. Things are just harder now.

Blessed are we who say, God,
could you come meet us here,
in this place?
This place of need where our feelings don’t match the day?

Blessed are we who hear You saying:
“Come to me, all you who are weary and carrying heavy burdens,
and I will give you rest.”

And we come.
And somehow there is rest,
and gladness for tiny, tiny graces.

Blessed are we, the truly thankful.

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The morning my friend’s encouraging email came in, I posted the same exact Scripture verse Kate uses here. I shared the Message translation of God’s empowering invitation: “Come to me, all you who are weary and carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.”

Remember these nurturing words of Jesus found in Matthew 11:28-30?

“Are you tired?

Worn out?

Burned out…?

Come to me.

Get away with me and you’ll recover your life.

I’ll show you how to take a real rest.

Walk with me and work with me—

watch how I do it.

Learn the unforced rhythms of grace.

I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you.

Keep company with me

and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

Learning the unforced rhythms of grace, keeping company with the living Christ, gladness gradually grows for tiny moments of freedom, light, rest.

Blessed are we, the truly thankful.

…Sue…