The Psalmist writes, “Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord, for his goodness.” Notice the word “would.” A thankful attitude is a choice you make regardless of the situation. You choose your attitude just like you choose the food you eat and the clothes you wear each day. And there’s plenty to be thankful for. You say, “Yeah, but there’s plenty to complain about too.” The point exactly – so you have a choice to make!
Robinson Crusoe spent twenty-seven years shipwrecked on an island. Here’s part of journal entry (paraphrased). Let’s call his lists “the Gripe list” and “the Gratitude list.”
Gripe: “I’m stuck on this desert island without hope.”
Gratitude: “I wasn’t drowned like the rest of my ship’s company.”
Gripe: “I’ve no clothes.”
Gratitude: “I’m in a hot climate, if I had clothes I couldn’t wear them.”
Gripe: “I’ve no way to protect myself from man or beast.”
Gratitude: “I see no wild beast here to hurt me as I saw on the coast of Africa. What if I’d been shipwrecked there?”
Gripe: “I’ve nobody to talk to.”
Gratitude: “God sent sent the ship in near enough to the shore that I’ve gotten out so many necessary things as will enable me to supply myself as long as I live.”
That’s powerful stuff! If you can grasp it and put it into practice, it’ll keep you from becoming a member of the Old Testament wilderness club known as “the murmurs.” Your attitude is simply the decision you make about how you’re going to approach things. It isn’t Disney-World thinking to focus on the good things of life, it’s wisdom!
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