I never really understood the difference between being grateful and being thankful. I often wondered why we have two words expressing the same thing. Not too long ago, I got a great idea: I LOOKED THEM UP! I was really surprised at what I found.
Gratitude is an agreeable emotion, consisting in or accompanied with good will to a benefactor, and a disposition to make a suitable return of benefits or services, or when no return can be made, with a desire to see the benefactor prosperous and happy.
Thanks is the expression of gratitude; an acknowledgment made to express a sense of favor or kindness received.
Did you catch that? Gratitude is the feeling or sentiment excited by kindness. Thanks are the expression of that sentiment.
It is not enough to have a grateful heart. That is a good beginning. However, if we do not express that gratitude with our lips, we have not been thankful, either to God or man. This includes our spouse, our children, our parents, our employers, etc.
The writer of Hebrews call thanks the fruit of our lips:
Hebrews 13:15 Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.
It is very easy to minimize God’s protection in our lives. How much doesn’t happen to us because He silently directs our steps? I believe that I was spared driving into a tornado this week. You can read the details here.
It is easy to look at the storm chasers and imagine that it isn’t that difficult to avoid a tornado. However, towing a car behind an old pickup with loose steering is difficult enough with the strong wind shifts from both oncoming and passing big rigs. Something as small as the slants or grooves in the road tended to redirect the truck in ways that I didn’t want. And, when towing a car, your reactions have to be measured and controlled lest you create a greater problem by whipping the towed vehicle behind you. With the winds generated in a tornado affected area, I would have had to pull over to the side of the road. I would have been a sitting duck.
Daily we are faced with small choices that form and mold our hearts. The fact is that God does actively protect His children. The only question is will we recognize it and be grateful or will we cynically explain everything away.
“How do you know that you would have been at that place when the tornado hit?”
I don’t. But, I do know that my plans would have had me driving through that very around the very time that the tornado touched down. And I also know that my plans were foiled by an unexpected event.
“It was your own negligence that caused the unexpected event, not God.”
That might be true. However, I would query back, “Why didn’t I tighten the lug nuts? I am not a careless man. In fact, I am very responsible. Why would I overlook something so crucial, especially on a long term project that is so close to being completed?”
I have chosen to believe that God really was watching out for me. I have chosen to give Him thanks. I am willing to look foolish. I am willing to be accused of being a little melodramatic. If that is the cost of maintaining a trusting, grateful heart, it is a small price to pay.
Deut. 29:29 The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.
Over the years I have been amazed at the wisdom and understanding that flows through me when I am counseling someone. These days I notice it when I talk to my children. I frequently find myself saying, “Wow! I need to write that down!”
In my younger days, I took that as proof that I was ‘gifted’, ‘called’ and ‘anointed’. It ‘proved’ that God loved me and that I was special. However, the truth is that it proved how much God loved the people I was trying to help.
It is similar to a gardener who wants to get water to his precious plants. The hose gets wet in the process. I am like the garden hose that delivers the water to the plants that need it. I just happened to be a willing vessel. He wanted to help them and I wanted to help them. So, I get the front row seat and get to both watch and participate while it happens.
So, when heavenly wisdom flows through my lips to my children, I now marvel at how much God loves them. I marvel at the plans that He has for them. And I get my pen and paper out, write down whatever I can remember (because it belongs to me as well as them) and thank Him for choosing to use and include me in the process.
