I woke up at 2:30 this morning. After tossing and turning for 30 minutes, I finally gave up on trying to get back to sleep and got up. I’ve got to admit that I wasn’t all that happy about getting up many hours before the alarm. After finally giving up on getting back to sleep, I got out of bed, started the coffee maker, and settled in for a long morning. I started the morning reading a novel, followed by studying for the morning sermon, cleaning the kitchen, changing bed sheets, and a few other chores. The quiet house and extra time gave me an opportunity to finish up all sorts of things I rarely have time for on Sunday mornings. Somewhere around 5, I realized that I had really enjoyed the extra time. Don’t get me wrong, by afternoon I was pretty tired, but the situation I had grumbled about and dreaded because I wanted to sleep a little longer, wound up being a pretty pleasant experience. Reflecting on it, I realized that often God blesses me in ways I don’t enjoy because my attitude toward the situation makes it impossible to do so. Really, I love getting adequate sleep. I also love reading and doing chores in a quiet house. Simply taking the situation or circumstances at face value instead of assuming they would be awful makes an enormous difference in my experience of the situation. I’m not trying to present a Pollyanna view of “attitude makes the situation good” every time. However, learning to look for blessings in our day to day life as a habit makes them easier to find. Perhaps the best example of this which I have encountered came from Corrie TenBoom, a Dutch Christian who was sent to a Nazi concentration camp. She talked about her prayer life during her time off extreme suffering in the camp where her sister died. While talking about the barracks where they lived, TenBoom said she used to pray to thank Good for the fleas that infested their beds and clothes because it kept the guards from coming inside. This gave them relief from their torment and privacy to pray and read a Bible they had smuggled into the camp. I can’t think of anyone who had more justification for complaining and even for being outraged at God. Instead, she thanked Him for peace that came from miseries. I don’t believe this is an automatic response to life. I think it is a result of a habit applied over long periods of time. We all know folks who are unhappy no matter what and find things to complain about regardless of the situation. That is also a result of practice. The way to grow these spiritual muscles that enable us to encounter every situation with gratitude is through praying. Every morning and evening, simply take the time to thank God for a handful of things. This even works when things seem out of control. I frequently find myself struggling with worry, which prompts me to pray to thank God that I can trust Him to be in control. I have heard it said: “There is a God, and I am not Him. Thank God for that.” If God is all knowing, powerful, and good then I can trust Him to take care of me no matter what. Even if things go badly, I can trust God to make me stronger or use the circumstances for His purposes. It may not seem like much, but thanking God for being in control and knowing there is a purpose to my experiences is a great comfort. I can think of no greater habit to improve contentment and ease worry.
