The Power of a Thankful Heart

“Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.”

–1 THESSALONIANS 5:16-18

I used to be a very negative person. I absolutely hated my job. I could find 1,000 things I disliked about it. It got so bad that my wife told me at one point that she no longer wanted to hear how my day went after I came home from work. That was a wake up call for me…

Let’s go back a way. I had been let go of my previous job and was unemployed for over 4 months back in 2009. I had a newborn daughter and my wonderful wife to support. I applied to all sorts of places but to no avail it seemed. In an off-chance, I applied with an international tech company on their website, but did not expect to hear back from them.

They called me out of the blue one day offering me an interview in Phoenix. Almost two hours away. I planned to wear my normal west-coast best to the interview (collared shirt, slacks, and nice shoes). I was advised that I needed to wear a suit to the interview as the company was very well-known throughout the global community. I had a problem. I did not own a suit. Also, I did not have much money to even buy one.

So off to JC Penny we went. I tried on several suits, and I had one that fit me perfectly. I liked the style, and it was on sale at a very low price. Last one on the rack too. In fact, everything happened to be on an extremely discounted sale at the moment I needed it to be. So I bought the suit, a few ties, and a couple very nice shirts for around $200. Normally, it would have been four times that price.

On to the interview:  I showed up slightly early and met the guy who was holding my fate of employment. He asked about 3 initial questions, and decided to just skip through the rest of them as I already fit the mold of what they were looking for. That took about 3-4 minutes, but we ended up interviewing for about an hour and a half. The rest of the time was spent fellowshipping with another believer whose testimony closely matched my own. It was a total God moment. Needless to say I got the job. It was so evident at that time how much Papa blessed me with it. Even for a couple of years later, I would recollect the memories of how God came through for my family and me.

Fast-forward several years. I had become bitter with my employer and all the circumstances they would continually inundate us with. It seemed to be like trying not to drown while 10 people would hold me under the water with no escape. All I could focus on was how unfair and stressful this employment was. It affected my personal life too. I would snap at my family, and hated my life in several areas.

When my wife told me she no longer wanted to hear about my day, it was a shock to my soul. I knew something needed to change…

I prayed about it, and quickly got an answer from God. He told me I needed to find something to thank Him about. He said I could start small. Maybe one to three things.  I was able to easily think about how He gave me the job in the first place. I thanked Him for that. Then I thought of other ways this job has been such a blessing to my family and me. I kept continuing to thank Him each day for a few things at a time. My list of gratitude continued to exponentially grow each day. Three things became five things, five became ten, etc. I found that my attitude started to change. I no longer hated my job. I was still frustrated at times of course, but even that began to diminish over time. This poured out over other areas of my life as well. Family, friends, hobbies, etc. I started to become a positive person. I was smiling more. Things that used to bother and control me now paled in comparison to God’s goodness and blessings! I eventually got to the place I am now where I no longer have bad days. I have times that are stressful, sure. I found that while I was thanking God for all His goodness in my life, I was worshiping Him. He in turn began to have an avenue to pour into my life and heart as well. Being free of anger and bitterness freed up room for Him to pour joy and peace into me.

“Life and death are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.” –Proverbs 18:21

I was now able to become the positive optimist He designed me to be. Wherever I go, I am able to smile at people. I have been given opportunities to bless and encourage them with this message. I can literally change the atmosphere wherever I go simply being who God says I am and walking that out. It is so freeing.

Sharing this with people at work has been such a blessing. I have been given the ability to help people change their inward person to bring out life and light. One woman I talked with explained that this was such a timely message. She had been on the verge of quitting her job due to stressful and negative circumstances. She was excited to hear how she could change her attitude by being thankful to God, but was also afraid it would not last as those who worked closely worked with her constantly spewed out negativity. I shared the verse above with her and explained how our words create worlds. One person can say something negative, but if we are at total peace with God within our hearts, our joy and hope will flow out through our words. We can counter negativity with something positive instead. Often times those around us will have an “aha!” moment. They will have a new angle to look at the problem instead of ushering in darkness out of frustration and bitterness. We can bring life into a situation by our words, or bring death.

If you are struggling to see how good God is to you, start by thanking Him for a few things. He will reveal more to you as you continue to be grateful. Your life will never be the same once you discover the power of a thankful heart.