by Jenessa Wait | Nov 23, 2021 | Life Advice, Wisdom
Have you ever been in a season where all you saw around you is lack? You wished you were further along in your journey, you wished you had more money in the bank, you wished you had a better job. You simply wished SOMETHING was different because you were not satisfied with the circumstances you were in? This thought is too common for us believers, and I believe God is inviting us to put on new eyes to see what truly is around us and the reality that joy and contentment is available to us right where we are at through Christ!
Let’s take a look at what the Word says about gratitude and thanksgiving
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 says “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
Gratitude isn’t just a nice idea we try to do better at during the thanksgiving holiday, it’s actually God’s will for our lives. He sees it as an absolute essential for us! Gratitude isn’t a suggestion, it’s His desire and His will for us because of the fruit it will bear in our lives!
I wonder what would have happened if the Israelites chose to be grateful in the wilderness rather than be full of complaints. They were so stuck in their lack that they forgot that the same God who delivered them from Egypt was STILL with them. They forgot to be thankful! They chose to focus on what they didn’t have, rather than focus and remember what God did for them.
As we know, the Israelites wandered in the desert for 40 years. What should have been a 2 week or less journey on foot turned into a prolonged journey of wandering fueled by unhealthy cycles of complaining and defeat. They kept forgetting WHO their God was! They took their eyes off of God and onto the reality around them. They didn’t have the realization that their breakthrough lied in what they were sowing through their words and the thoughts in their heart.
Sis, when you choose gratitude, it turns what is around you into enough. God is inviting you to step INTO gratitude, where it not only becomes a discipline, but it becomes a lifestyle and essentially becomes WHO you are. Despite what feels as not enough around you, I truly believe God wants to show you the everlasting peace and joy you can find in Him, because Jesus is enough!
I want to remind you that God’s goodness is in fact around all you. Right in this very moment, as you’re reading this, God’s goodness is encompassing you. Ask Him to show you what that is. Maybe it’s packaged in a way that you haven’t recognized yet, but through His grace and kindness, I believe He will show you it!
Here are some practical ways to choose gratitude:
1. At the end of each day, write down three things you are grateful for that day.
By doing this you are retraining your mind and perspective. Sooner or later you’ll start to find those things more naturally! Recording gratitude is much more powerful than you know. 😉
2. Text a friend and tell them how meaningful your friendship is and something you’re grateful for about them. Bringing gratitude into relationships is a MUST. Telling someone you’re grateful for them can do wonders for their spirit (and create deeper connection!) It not only will strengthen your friendship, but it will leave the recipient feeling loved and seen by you and God.
3. Start your prayer time with gratitude for WHO God is!
Psalm 100:4 says “Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.” Thanksgiving is the gateway into His presence. It takes us into a new reality! It shifts our focus back onto our amazing God and off of anything that may try and discourage us.
4. Take a trip down memory lane and dwell on all the beautiful things God has already done for you. Psalm 77:11-12 “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.” When we remember the goodness of God, it strengthens our spirit. It reminds us that if God did it then, how much more can we do it now? He is the same God yesterday, today and forever!
I hope these words today could ignite a desire to cultivate gratitude in your life a little more. Friend, I promise you that on the other side of you choosing it, you will experience a perspective shift that will bring peace and joy in your life!
Have a blessed Thanksgiving!
by Jenessa Wait | Mar 4, 2021 | Life Advice, Perspective, Wisdom |
Have you ever been in a season where you were contending for something in an area of you life and then all of the sudden it seems as though everyone around you seemed to be getting breakthrough in that very area? I know I have!
I have GOOD news for your sister. When you feel the weight of comparison begin to overshadow you, you don’t have to stay there. In fact, because of God’s God’s mercy and kindness, He always gives us a way out. In that moment you will face two options. Either you can choose defeat and believe that your chance for a blessing has passed you by, or you can stand beside your sister in Christ and celebrate their victory and then choose to believe that their testimony is prophesying that God can do it again in your life!
This is what I know about God. He is no respecter of people. He doesn’t choose to bless someone more because that person loves Him more, reads their bible more, does good things for others more. It’s never been about how good we are- it’s always just been about how good HE is. God is good. Period. And that HAS to be the foundation on which we stand. External circumstances should never be the meter on which you determine how loved and seen by God you are. The truth is, you are God’s favorite! His chosen one, His beloved! So when you see Him bless someone else, it’s not because of anything you’ve done wrong, it’s actually because of how Good He is and what a beautiful invitation we get in that moment to step into someone’s testimony and celebrate WITH them!
God has a specific plan and process for your life. He has a route only you can go on and thrive in. YOU have a God lane that has been prepared for only you!
Jeremiah 29:11 says “I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.”
What a promise! That even when it “feels” like everyone around us is prospering, we also have the same promise, it will just look different!
So how do we overcome comparison? Here are some practical tools below that have helped me in my walk in this area!
1) Choose to celebrate! Comparison will always lead to introspection and make it about us, but when we celebrate someone else it makes it about how GOOD God is! It always points us back to God and realigns our perspective. The more you choose to celebrate someone, the easier it will become.
“Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep” (Romans 12:15).
2) Choose humility. The truth is, none of us really deserve anything. BUT because of Jesus and what He paid for, we are beneficiaries of His inheritance! Humility keeps our heart in check.
“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.” (Philippians 2:3-4).
3) Remain thankful for what you do have. Comparison is the byproduct of a lack mentality. It believes that there isn’t enough for everyone to go around. But our God is the God of more than enough and the God of abundance. There is no lack in heaven! When comparison tries to have you focus on what you don’t have, use thankfulness as a tool to remind yourself what you do have! Some practical ways to do this are writing things down on a piece of paper or verbally saying what you’re thankful for out loud!
“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).
4) Renew your mind with your truth! Romans 12:12 says “…that we transformed by the renewing of our mind.” Dive into scriptures and start reading and meditating on these types of verses that will help you remember that God has a plan for your life and desires for you to flourish!
5) Take a social media break! Maybe you need to detox from the gram and Facebook. Ask the Lord if this is something He’s calling you to do for some time!
6) Pray. Pray and ask the Lord to help you in this area. Pray that He would refine and prune your heart so that you can look more and more like Jesus (and bear more fruit!). “Ask you shall receive, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you.” (John 15, Matthew 7:7).
God has you on the path you are on for a purpose. Your process is beautiful! Be content with where you are while celebrating where others are going. Your security is in Christ! I pray that God would fill your heart with strength to overcome comparison and faith to believe that you are where you need to be and you have everything you need to thrive in the season God has placed you in!
Jenessa is a wife, mother, hand-letterer and speaker who believes that encouragement and truth of God has the power to change the way we live! She started her hand lettering journey in 2015 as a hobby and it quickly turned into a business as well a way to bring encouragement into people’s lives and homes. She has a strong passion to impact the way people think about who they are and what they’re destined for. When she’s not creating, her and her husband pastor a young adults group at a local church in Austin, TX where they reside.
Follow Jenessa on instagram @jenessawait
