Grateful in Any Circumstances
Have we not reason to be
filled with gratitude, regardless of the circumstances in which we find
ourselves?
Over the
years, I have had the sacred opportunity to meet with many people whose sorrows
seem to reach the very depths of their soul. In these moments, I have listened
to my beloved brothers and sisters and grieved with them over their burdens. I
have pondered what to say to them, and I have struggled to know how to comfort
and support them in their trials.
Often their grief is caused by what seems to them as an ending.
Some are facing the end of a cherished relationship, such as the death of a
loved one or estrangement from a family member. Others feel they are facing the
end of hope—the hope of being married or bearing children or overcoming an
illness. Others may be facing the end of their faith, as confusing and
conflicting voices in the world tempt them to question, even abandon, what they
once knew to be true.
Sooner or later, I believe that all of us experience times when
the very fabric of our world tears at the seams, leaving us feeling alone,
frustrated, and adrift.
It can happen to anyone. No one is immune.
We Can Be
Grateful
Everyone’s situation is different, and the details of each life
are unique. Nevertheless, I have learned that there is something that would
take away the bitterness that may come into our lives. There is one thing we
can do to make life sweeter, more joyful, even glorious.
We can be grateful!
It might sound contrary to the wisdom of the world to suggest that
one who is burdened with sorrow should give thanks to God. But those who set
aside the bottle of bitterness and lift instead the goblet of gratitude can
find a purifying drink of healing, peace, and understanding.
As disciples of Christ, we are commanded to “thank the Lord [our]
God in all things,”1 to “sing
unto the Lord with thanksgiving,”2 and to
“let [our] heart be full of thanks unto God.”3
Why does God command us to be grateful?
All of His commandments are given to make blessings available to
us. Commandments are opportunities to exercise our agency and to receive
blessings. Our loving Heavenly Father knows that choosing to develop a spirit
of gratitude will bring us true joy and great happiness.
Being
Grateful for Things
But some might say, “What do I have to be grateful for when
my world is falling apart?”
Perhaps focusing on what we are grateful for is the wrong
approach. It is difficult to develop a spirit of gratitude if our thankfulness
is only proportional to the number of blessings we can count. True, it is
important to frequently “count our blessings”—and anyone who has tried this
knows there are many—but I don’t believe the Lord expects us to be less
thankful in times of trial than in times of abundance and ease. In fact, most
of the scriptural references do not speak of gratitude for things but
rather suggest an overall spirit or attitude of gratitude.
It is easy to be grateful for things when life seems to be
going our way. But what then of those times when what we wish for seems to be
far out of reach?
Could I suggest that we see gratitude as a disposition, a way of
life that stands independent of our current situation? In other words, I’m
suggesting that instead of being thankful for things, we focus on being
thankful in our circumstances—whatever they may be.
There is an old story of a waiter who asked a customer whether he
had enjoyed the meal. The guest replied that everything was fine, but it would
have been better if they had served more bread. The next day, when the man
returned, the waiter doubled the amount of bread, giving him four slices
instead of two, but still the man was not happy. The next day, the waiter
doubled the bread again, without success.
On the fourth day, the waiter was really determined to make the
man happy. And so he took a nine-foot-long (3-m) loaf of bread, cut it in half,
and with a smile, served that to the customer. The waiter could scarcely wait
for the man’s reaction.
After the meal, the man looked up and said, “Good as always. But I
see you’re back to giving only two slices of bread.”
Being
Grateful in Our Circumstances
My dear brothers and sisters, the choice is ours. We can choose to
limit our gratitude, based on the blessings we feel we lack. Or we can choose
to be like Nephi, whose grateful heart never faltered. When his brothers tied
him up on the ship—which he had built to take them to the promised land—his
ankles and wrists were so sore “they had swollen exceedingly,” and a violent
storm threatened to swallow him up in the depths of the sea. “Nevertheless,”
Nephi said, “I did look unto my God, and I did praise him all the day long; and
I did not murmur against the Lord because of mine afflictions.”4
We can choose to be like Job, who seemed to have everything but
then lost it all. Yet Job responded by saying, “Naked came I out of my mother’s
womb, and naked shall I return … : the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away;
blessed be the name of the Lord.”5
We can choose to be like the Mormon pioneers, who maintained a
spirit of gratitude during their slow and painful trek toward the Great Salt
Lake, even singing and dancing and glorying in the goodness of God.6 Many of
us would have been inclined to withdraw, complain, and agonize about the
difficulty of the journey.
We can choose to be like the Prophet Joseph Smith, who, while a
prisoner in miserable conditions in Liberty Jail, penned these inspired words:
“Dearly beloved brethren, let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our
power; and then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the
salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed.”7
We can choose to be grateful, no matter what.
This type of gratitude transcends whatever is happening around us.
It surpasses disappointment, discouragement, and despair. It blooms just as
beautifully in the icy landscape of winter as it does in the pleasant warmth of
summer.
When we are grateful to God in our circumstances, we can
experience gentle peace in the midst of tribulation. In grief, we can still
lift up our hearts in praise. In pain, we can glory in Christ’s Atonement. In
the cold of bitter sorrow, we can experience the closeness and warmth of
heaven’s embrace.
We sometimes think that being grateful is what we do after
our problems are solved, but how terribly shortsighted that is. How much of
life do we miss by waiting to see the rainbow before thanking God that there is
rain?
Being grateful in times of distress does not mean that we
are pleased with our circumstances. It does mean that through the eyes
of faith we look beyond our present-day challenges.
This is not a gratitude of the lips but of the soul. It is a
gratitude that heals the heart and expands the mind.
Gratitude
as an Act of Faith
Being grateful in our circumstances is an act of faith in
God. It requires that we trust God and hope for things we may not see but which
are true.8 By being
grateful, we follow the example of our beloved Savior, who said, “Not my will,
but thine, be done.”9
True gratitude is an expression of hope and testimony. It
comes from acknowledging that we do not always understand the trials of life
but trusting that one day we will.
In any circumstance, our sense of gratitude is nourished by the
many and sacred truths we do know: that our Father has given His
children the great plan of happiness; that through the Atonement of His Son,
Jesus Christ, we can live forever with our loved ones; that in the end, we will
have glorious, perfect, and immortal bodies, unburdened by sickness or
disability; and that our tears of sadness and loss will be replaced with an
abundance of happiness and joy, “good measure, pressed down, and shaken
together, and running over.”10
It must have been this kind of testimony that transformed the
Savior’s Apostles from fearful, doubting men into fearless, joyful emissaries
of the Master. In the hours following His Crucifixion, they were consumed with
despair and grief, unable to understand what had just happened. But one event
changed all of that. Their Lord appeared to them and declared, “Behold my hands
and my feet, that it is I myself.”11
When the Apostles recognized the risen Christ—when they
experienced the glorious Resurrection of their beloved Savior—they became
different men. Nothing could keep them from fulfilling their mission. They
accepted with courage and determination the torture, humiliation, and even
death that would come to them because of their testimony.12 They
were not deterred from praising and serving their Lord. They changed the lives
of people everywhere. They changed the world.
You do not need to see the Savior, as the Apostles did, to
experience the same transformation. Your testimony of Christ, born of the Holy
Ghost, can help you look past the disappointing endings in mortality and see
the bright future that the Redeemer of the world has prepared.
We Are
Not Made for Endings
In light of what we know about our eternal destiny, is it any
wonder that whenever we face the bitter endings of life, they seem unacceptable
to us? There seems to be something inside of us that resists endings.
Why is this? Because we are made of the stuff of eternity. We are
eternal beings, children of the Almighty God, whose name is Endless13 and who
promises eternal blessings without number. Endings are not our destiny.
The more we learn about the gospel of Jesus Christ, the more we
realize that endings here in mortality are not endings at all. They are merely
interruptions—temporary pauses that one day will seem small compared to the
eternal joy awaiting the faithful.
How grateful I am to my Heavenly Father that in His plan there are
no true endings, only everlasting beginnings.
Those Who
Are Grateful Will Be Made Glorious
Brothers and sisters, have we not reason to be filled with
gratitude, regardless of the circumstances in which we find ourselves?
How blessed we are if we recognize God’s handiwork in the
marvelous tapestry of life. Gratitude to our Father in Heaven broadens our
perception and clears our vision. It inspires humility and fosters empathy
toward our fellowmen and all of God’s creation. Gratitude is a catalyst to all
Christlike attributes! A thankful heart is the parent of all virtues.16
The Lord has given us His promise that those “who [receive] all
things with thankfulness shall be made glorious; and the things of this
earth shall be added unto [them], even an hundred fold, yea, more.”17
May we “live in thanksgiving daily”18—especially
during the seemingly unexplainable endings that are part of mortality. May we
allow our souls to expand in thankfulness toward our merciful Heavenly Father.
May we ever and constantly raise our voices and show by word and deed our
gratitude to our Father in Heaven and to His Beloved Son, Jesus Christ. For
this I pray, and leave you my testimony and blessing, in the name of our
Master, Jesus Christ, amen.
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