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Written by Jocelynn Goff, volunteer with Iron Rose Sister Ministries in Arkansas
Have you ever felt like you were living under a dark cloud? Or maybe it was so dark you actually felt as if you were not just under it but even in the middle of it.
A few years ago, I was emotionally walking with a friend through an extremely difficult and tragic part of her life. Since she wanted to be confidential, I was the only one she was sharing with. She had me, but I had no one else to share this with. I felt a tremendous weight with this responsibility—a responsibility I fully accepted to help my friend but a heavy weight none the less. In other words, I felt both under and in a dark cloud. This weight felt hard to overcome in my day-to-day responsibilities. I found myself sinking into a state of depression. I knew I had a ready listening Heavenly Father, so I was definitely praying. However, no lifting of the dark cloud. In addition, I was fasting and praying. And yet, no lifting of the dark cloud. I began singing especially on my walks around the neighborhood. Still no dark cloud lifting. I cried out, “God what am I missing?” I felt a still small voice say, “thanksgiving.”
OH, yes, Father this is a missing element in my prayer and petition to you. As you remind me.
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” (Phil. 4:6)
So, I pulled out my Thankful Journal and began reminding myself of the too-numerous-to-count times of thanksgiving blessings God had given me. As I read each blessing out loud, I felt the dark cloud slowly begin to lift. Hope began permeating my mind, spirit, body, and soul. Thank You, God! And now I had another entry for my Thankful Journal! God had already supplied me with the answer, “Present my requests to Him with thanksgiving.”
My Thankful Journal was the result of another friend’s recommendation of Ann Voskamp’s book, One Thousand Gifts. The author invites the reader to live the concept of “Eucharisteo always precedes the miracle,” and encourages a Thankful Journal.
I was challenged to start my own Thankful Journal and began with the goal of 1,000 gift entries. I am now at 6,851 Thankful Journal entries. It’s nearly impossible to keep up with writing down all of God’s blessings. Still, it is pure delight to be reminded and record God’s gifts in my life. When I am feeling the weight of life on many different levels, I am prompted much earlier in my dark cloud moments to choose thankfulness. I am also reminded in His Word:
“give thanks in all circumstances” (1 Thes. 5:18)
“let us be thankful and so worship God” (Heb. 12:28b)
I encourage you to choose thankfulness as a significant part of your everyday walk and especially for those dark cloud moments. I also encourage you to read One Thousand Gifts and begin your own Thankful Journal.
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Why is grass inviting for rolling down a hill, while a rock invites a climb?
Why did God give sunrises and sunsets glorious displays of shifting color variations?
Does a centipede need all 100 legs?
Would a lion roar as loudly without his impressive mane?
Why does a fish have many small scales instead of one or two big ones? Or would two big scales on a sea creature just be a clam?
Did God always intend for there to be fish large enough to swallow a rebellious person?
Have you thought about how the feathers of a bird facilitate its flight? Beyond the functional necessity of the feathers, their myriad of colors and head-shapes are not out of necessity, but rather out of God’s extravagant design.
Gratuitous extravagance.
Gratuitous… a big word that encompasses and even bigger meaning. If something is gratuitous, it means that it is above and beyond what is expected or deserved. Louisiana natives may compare it to “lagniappe,” which means a little something extra, like the 13th donut of the baker’s dozen.
Extravagance… the gratuitous beauty with which God created the world is beyond what we might’ve expected or imagined. It is most definitely more than we deserve. The lavish splendor of creation points to a loving Creator who delights in the art of His handiwork.
Gratuitous extravagance.
James, the brother of Jesus, uses two contrasting facets of nature to describe the Father from whom all good gifts originate.
“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows” (James 1:17).
God’s gifts are good. His gifts are sacrificial. His gifts can never be repaid. Many of His gifts are unnecessary, but all His gifts inspire gratitude. And His greatest gift? His love.
Paul attempts to describe God’s love in Ephesians using words like “glorious riches” and “how long and high and deep is the love… that surpasses knowledge.” Some of my favorite verses are at the conclusion of that inept description. They are a benediction and call to action.
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. (Eph. 3:20-21)
There is no way that we can repay God for His extravagant gifts. Rather, His gratuitous beauty serves as an invitation to thank and praise Him.
God’s gifts are an invitation, not an obligation.
Do I have to delight in the question of why a giraffe has so many spots? Nope. But I am invited to chuckle along with God, who creatively and carefully designed and delighted in each animal’s unique beauty, each blade of grass, every fish in the sea and myriad of birds of the air.
And when we take a moment to celebrate and express our gratefulness for His gratuitous extravagance, we are redefined by our gratitude and transformed by His beauty and love.
P.S. Special thanks to the Creative Response Sunday morning Bible class at Downtown and to Makoto Fujimura’s book, Art and Faith, for some of the inspiration and vocabulary for this blog post.