🌿 What Are You Grateful For? 🌿

During one of our Sunday School sessions, a simple but powerful question was asked:

“What are you grateful for?”

The answers came gently.

One person said she was grateful for family, the comfort of calling a sibling and hearing, “How are you doing?” She reflected further and said that some families have only one child, who may be grateful for aunties and uncles to lean on, unlike children in motherless homes who have no one to hold onto at all.

As she spoke, my heart began to search inward.

I thought about my health. From my teenage years, I have lived with PCOS. It hasn’t always been easy. There were moments of pain, fear, and uncertainty. Yet I am deeply grateful ,because every time a crisis came, God gave me strength to overcome it. I am standing, Still moving forward and hopeful. Thankful for my daughter also who has Micenteric Adenitis and she is still standing too, even with the stress that comes with that also. 

Then my pastor shared something that shifted my understanding of gratitude completely.

He said he once attended a program where many people came out to share testimonies. Sitting quietly, he felt uneasy and asked God within himself, “Why don’t I have a testimony like these people?”

God responded with a question that silenced him:

“Do you want to go through the same problems they went through?”

Immediately, gratitude filled his heart. He realized that sometimes, the greatest testimony is not what God rescued us from, but what He mercifully kept us away from.

📖 “In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” — 1 Thessalonians 5:18

As he spoke, two painful memories from my own life resurfaced.

The first was the day my aunt passed away. The pain was deep and overwhelming. But in the middle of our tears, my younger sibling said something profound:

“Thank God she wasn’t mad. Thank God she wasn’t involved in an accident. Thank God she died peacefully. And thank God she was in Christ.”

That statement didn’t erase the pain, but it gave it meaning.

The second memory was harder.

During a very challenging season in our family, a man who was my husband’s friend someone we never suspected he had attempted suicide multiple times without our knowledge. One day, he went out with my husband to help get things for our family. We were grateful he returned safely.

But later that afternoon, the news came that he had taken insecticide and passed away.

The atmosphere became heavy. I cried deeply. My heart was broken ,not just because of death, but because of how it happened.

And I want to say this clearly and lovingly:

Suicide is not an escape. It is not a solution. It is not rest.

Suicide leaves behind unanswered questions, broken hearts, and silent grief. It transfers pain instead of ending it. It steals tomorrow’s hope because today feels unbearable.

📖 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” — John 10:10

In that moment, a question rose in my spirit:

“How do I thank God in a situation like this?”

He had no wife, No children, but he had an aged mother and siblings It felt senseless.

But then another thought followed quietly, yet firm:

“What if he had died somewhere no one knew, as he had attempted before?”

I realized something important: even in tragedy, God’s mercy still speaks. He was not abandoned. He was seen. His death was known. And his death  ,though painful ,was not invisible.

That moment reshaped my understanding of gratitude.

Gratitude is not pretending that pain doesn’t exist.

Gratitude is choosing to trust God even when life hurts deeply.

📖 “Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for His mercy endures forever.” — Psalm 136:1

From that day, my mindset changed. I learned that thanksgiving is not reserved for easy seasons. It is an act of faith in hard ones.

And if you are reading this while battling dark thoughts, feeling overwhelmed, or considering giving up ,please hear this:

Your life matters.

Your pain is valid.

But your story is not over.

God is not finished with you. Speak to someone. Ask for help. Pray ,even if all you can say is “Lord, help me.”

So today, I ask again:

What are you grateful for ,even now?

Sometimes gratitude is not loud.

Sometimes it is simply choosing to stay.

✍🏽 Written by Maria Jacobs

Christian writer & faith blogger

🌿 https://mariajacobsfaith.blogspot.com

#GratefulHeart #FaithJourney #HopeInChrist

#ChristianLiving #MentalHealthAndFaith

#LifeIsPrecious #ChooseLife

#MariaJacobsFaith #DevotionalThoughts #GodsGrace.