Have you ever pondered why Eve and Adam disobeyed God? They were not satisfied with what God had provided for them. They were ungrateful, wanting more. Human kind follows in the steps of the First Parents exhibiting the sin of ingratitude. How well do we give thanks always for all things to God as instructed in Ephesians 5:20?
Ann Voskamp’s friend challenged her to make a list of 1,000 things for which she was thankful; thus, the title of her book 1000 Gifts.
It is pretty easy to see the big picture items like family, health, housing, food, perhaps an extraordinary answer to prayer, but what about small things? To capture 1000 gifts from God in writing or photos, requires being aware and focused on the moments of our days. Why should we even bother to enumerate and give thanks to God for a beautiful sunset, a kind word from a friend, a close parking spot when our energy is flagging?
Because the practice of giving thanks is the way we realize the presence of God in all of the moments of life. It builds and undergirds our relationship with God. Gratitude for the seemingly insignificant plants the seeds for what Ann calls hard thanksgiving, the times of loss, pain, suffering that we all experience in our fallen world. With day after day bathed in thanks, we touch the pulse of God’s love for us and we build a relationship of trust that gets us through the hard times and creates a willingness to say “Thy will be done” to the Heavenly Father. We can give thanks in everything because there is a good God working all things unto the purposes of His plan.
Will you start a ledger of God’s love for you? Take paper and pen or camera and record His gifts throughout your day. Ann has many suggestions on her Joy Dare calendar on her blog. Here are some samples: 1 gift that made you laugh; 1 gift that made you pray; 1 gift that made you quiet. Something above you, something below you, something beside you.
God is evident all around us.
Psalm 136:3-7
v.3 Give thanks to the Lord of Lords; For His lovingkindness is everlasting.
v.4 Give thanks to Him who alone does great wonders; For His lovingkindness is everlasting.
v.5 Give thanks to Him who made the heavens with skill; for His lovingkindness is everlasting.
v.6 Give thanks to Him who spread out the earth above the waters; for His lovingkindness is everlasting.
v.7 Give thanks to Him who made the great lights; for His lovingkindness is everlasting.
Go out and embrace the beauty and goodness of God through the act of thanksgiving.
Daily lifting life's empty bowl to see what God provides to sustain, nourish, and strengthen His child.
Showing posts with label 1000 gifts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 1000 gifts. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Sunday, April 29, 2012
The Beggar
When I chose a name for my blog, I wanted to use “a beggar’s bowl”, but I discovered I needed to modify it because someone else had that name. I especially wanted to keep beggar in the title to emphasize the neediness and dependence of the one (me) lifting up the bowl.
I am not holding out my bowl and pleading with the giver. The giver is not stingy or mean or begrudging. He wants to provide what I need. I did not choose the beggar imagery to reflect on the character of the giver, but on the condition of the recipient.
Sometimes what fills the beggar’s bowl is tasty and abundant. Other times it is sour or hard to digest, prickly or bony. But if the beggar throws away the gift, he will be malnourished and weak. In his need, the unacceptable must become the acceptable. He does not have the luxury of sorting through what has been provided for his sustenance and growth and discarding what he deems unpalatable if he is to be filled and reach his full stature.
If I believe the giver (God) is good (and I do), then the items in the bowl should be received with thankfulness, even the hard-to-digest or unpalatable ones.
Ann Voskamp in her book 1000 Gifts talks of the hard “gifts”, the pain and suffering and loss universal to the human condition. These are the hard to swallow, the things that must be accepted as necessary though bitter. We could debate whether the donor directly provides them or simply allows them to fill our bowl, but He has made them part of our rations. They supply something needful for us to grow.
To truly accept, one must lift the bowl believing everything put in it has a purpose that will work together for good and God’s glory. Am I willing to receive it with that perspective? Sometimes I am, other times I want to cover the bowl with my hand and say no more spinach, God; more candy, please. There are indeed hard gifts.
I am not holding out my bowl and pleading with the giver. The giver is not stingy or mean or begrudging. He wants to provide what I need. I did not choose the beggar imagery to reflect on the character of the giver, but on the condition of the recipient.
Sometimes what fills the beggar’s bowl is tasty and abundant. Other times it is sour or hard to digest, prickly or bony. But if the beggar throws away the gift, he will be malnourished and weak. In his need, the unacceptable must become the acceptable. He does not have the luxury of sorting through what has been provided for his sustenance and growth and discarding what he deems unpalatable if he is to be filled and reach his full stature.
If I believe the giver (God) is good (and I do), then the items in the bowl should be received with thankfulness, even the hard-to-digest or unpalatable ones.
Ann Voskamp in her book 1000 Gifts talks of the hard “gifts”, the pain and suffering and loss universal to the human condition. These are the hard to swallow, the things that must be accepted as necessary though bitter. We could debate whether the donor directly provides them or simply allows them to fill our bowl, but He has made them part of our rations. They supply something needful for us to grow.
To truly accept, one must lift the bowl believing everything put in it has a purpose that will work together for good and God’s glory. Am I willing to receive it with that perspective? Sometimes I am, other times I want to cover the bowl with my hand and say no more spinach, God; more candy, please. There are indeed hard gifts.
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