“The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.” —Job 1:21
No discussion of Christian gratitude can be complete without being up-front and honest about what it costs. And how it can survive—and thrive—in the midst of intense pain, loss, and adversity.
The late Romanian pastor Richard Wurmbrand spent fourteen years in prison for preaching the gospel. Although his captors smashed four of his vertebrae and either cut or burned eighteen holes in his body, they could not defeat his will and spirit. “Alone in my cell,” he testified, “cold, hungry, and in rags, I danced for joy every night.”1
However, the capacity to respond to adversity with faith and gratitude isn’t limited to spiritual “superheroes.” There are countless people whose names and stories few have ever heard, who endure the worst that life has to offer and still come up thankful. Not unscarred, not unmoved, not functioning like robots, but still spotting reasons for hope and promise. They seem to know that the only thing more debilitating than what they’re going through would be going through it ungratefully.
1 Richard Wurmbrand, In God’s Underground (Bartlesville, OK: Living Sacrifice Book Company, 1968, 2004), 56.
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Choosing Gratitude: Your Journey to Joy ©2009 Revived Hearts Foundation
Scripture taken from The CSB
Make it Personal
Who do you know that has chosen to be grateful even in challenging or painful circumstances? How does their example inspire you?