Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.   

            I Thessalonians 5:18 (NIV)

When we first moved into our new home, twenty years ago, I found many things to like about it. I’d never had a fireplace before and this little ranch home had a beautiful brick fireplace in the living room. My husband liked the wall that had a bookcase built into it, ready for all his books. However, I did not like our kitchen. It was too tiny for a table and had no dishwasher. I am not fond of washing dishes, and had grown accustomed to a dishwasher over the years. I spent way too much time re-designing that kitchen “when we could afford it” in my mind.

One day, as I was looking around my tiny space, into my mind popped a picture of a woman from Haiti looking at me with questioning eyes. I remembered a pastor sharing about his trip to Haiti and how some of the Christians he met there lived 20 people to a hut. The hut had room to sleep 10 people lying side by side next to each other, so the 20 people slept in shifts. They ate outside and lived outside, really. All of a sudden it dawned on me that my “little kitchen” was probably the size of their hut. Their entire HOUSE. And the woman with the bewildered eyes in my mind gazing at my kitchen and then my three bedrooms and living room and dining room made me realize that I had nothing to complain about at ALL.

All of a sudden my kitchen looked like a dream come true. I had running water in my house. I could heat up water and food on a stove inside, not outside. My refrigerator was stocked with food and, as a matter of fact, I had so much food some had spoiled and would have to be thrown away. My entire perspective shifted with that short vision. (Oh forgive me, Lord, for my complaining heart! Help me to see how much I have and be grateful and humbled by it!)

This little visual picture in my mind has helped me numerous times in other “complaining moments.” I look for what I have these days, and reject thoughts that whine about what I have not. My heart has grown in gratitude as I’ve “noticed” what God has done and given thanks. And you know what? My kitchen is still too small for a table and I still don’t have a dishwasher and I am okay with that.

Heavenly Father, Thank You for every good and perfect gift you have given! Thank You for sunshine and rain, for flowers and birdsong, for warmth on a cold day and enough to eat and drink. Most of all, Lord, thank You that even if all those things were missing … I would still have YOU and have eternity to look forward to when I pass from this life to the next. Thank You for the gift of salvation most of all. Lord, give me a grateful heart and eyes to see all I have. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Post by Sharon Gamble of Sweet Selah Ministries

Sharon is a writer, speaker, and wassail lover. She and her husband open their home for small group family Bible study often, and on any given Tuesday evening you can find her baking muffins for her Wednesday girls teen Bible study that meets throughout the school year. Sharon just finished her time with Mom’s in Prayer as the National Director for the US to follow God on a new adventure of faith “Sweet Selah Ministries”.