GRATITUDE AND MINDFULNESS FOR TODAY
Turn off alarm. Drink water. Get coffee, lots of coffee. Devotion and prayer. Rush off to work. Meetings. Deadlines. Deal with people. Sit in traffic. Come home. Help around the house. Ministry meetings. TV. Set alarm. Close eyes. Repeat.
It´s so easy to get busy building the life we want that we forget to enjoy the life we´re building. Gratitude and mindfulness are important tools God has given us to enjoy today as we work towards a better tomorrow. Today, I want to share 10 Bible verses that teach us to be present and thankful.
Being present is just a new way of saying, ¨Being in the moment.¨ I like to think about Jesus´ disciples and their excitement to see Jesus deliver them from Rome… or so they thought. The century-old promise was that a King would come from the line of David to set the people of Israel free from their enemy. When Jesus showed up on the scene, Israel’s enemy was Rome, so it makes sense that the disciples and followers expected Jesus to start a revolution. And He did, but not like they planned.
I wonder if after Jesus went to the cross, died, rose again, and ascended to Heaven 40 days after His resurrection, the disciples reflected more on the big moments (the ones documented in the Bible) or on the little moments. When they gathered around the campfire, did they recall when He calmed the storm or the bad joke He told at dinner months before? I wonder if maybe just maybe, they realized they had been walking in the extraordinary all along…
My point with this narrative is that life is now! In the words of Eleanor Roosevelt, ¨Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, and today is a gift. That’s why they call it the present.¨ But being present isn’t just about being in the moment, it’s about awakening our awareness to the fact that God is present with us. Though I highly recommend taking a breath to look around and really notice what you’re experiencing, smell it, taste it; that’s only half the experience. When God promises that we are not alone, He means it. The flip side of that is that He is always with us. He is with you in your car, at the kitchen sink, at your desk, when you lift your hands in church (and even when you don´t). He is with us and that changes things. Things don’t seem as scary when I realize He is with me. Rooms don’t feel as big, silence doesn’t feel as intimidating, space doesn’t feel as empty, nights don’t feel as lonely.
Meditation is the practice of focusing our mind and it was God´s idea before it was the world´s. That being said, is there anything better to focus our mind on than His character and His promises? Next time you need to regroup, take a deep breath and lean into the truth found in these verses:
I want to encourage you to give thanks for today. It´s so easy to start! Are you sitting on a chair, couch, or laying on a bed? Give thanks for that! Did you eat today? Give thanks for that! Think about one thing that made you smile today…give thanks for that!
We have more reasons to be grateful than to be bitter, but we choose to which we lean our hearts. I choose gratitude.
Your friend,
Nadia Kay
(I´d like to thank Sarah from Calming Grace for her blog post on the matter. She provided great insight and lots of helpful information)
***Here are the 10 verses in text, in case you´d like to copy and paste them into your notes instead of having the image ;)
Within your temple, O God, we meditate on your unfailing love. ~ Psalm 48:9 NIV
Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. ~ Joshua 1:8 NIV
I remember the days of long ago; I meditate on all your works and consider what your hands have done. ~ Psalm 143:5 NIV
May my meditation be pleasing to him, as I rejoice in the LORD. ~ Psalm 104:34 NIV
I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways. I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word. ~ Psalm 119:15-16 ESV
I will remember the deeds of the LORD; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago. I will consider all your works and meditate on all your mighty deeds. ~ Psalm 77:11-12 NIV
And Isaac went out to meditate in the field toward evening. ~ Genesis 24:63 ESV
Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth! ~ Psalm 46:10 ESV
You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you. ~ Isaiah 26:3 NLT
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable—if there is any moral excellence and if there is any praise—dwell (or meditate) on these things. ~ Philippians 4:8 HCSB
