Above the Treeline

Gratitude is saving me.

It has been for the last few years. It is not something nice to add to my pantheon of virtues, it is the virtue that breathes life into every character trait I have. The mental and emotional peace I receive from the daily practice of gratitude, is incalculable.

If you are going through something difficult, you may find it difficult to be thankful this season. I understand and identify with this dilemma.

It is easy when you are going through a valley to not be able to see over the tops of the mountains that overshadow you. It is the nature of the valley and the mountains.

The valley can run deep and the road through it is treacherous, unpredictable, and sometimes long.

I’ve been on a few hikes where I got turned around and was vunclear on where I was going. Sure, there are some markers along the way but the further you go into a hike, the more the terrain and surroundings begin to look the same. A few weeks ago I got lost on a hike and couldn’t find the right exit. When I thought I was finding my way out, I cleared the trees and was met with a bunch of cars that were not familiar, parked in a formation that was not the same as the parking lot I arrived in. So I went back onto the trail only to be spit out onto a soccer field. So, I went back to the trail. At one point I arrived at a hill used for jumping mountain bikes, that I am certain I hadn’t passed before.

This kept going for about forty-five minutes! I got a little freaked out. I usually check my compass as I enter a trail and had totally forgotten to do that. Through trial and error, I finally found the path out.

I have discovered that the best way to find my way out of being lost on a trail is to find an elevated area. When I get above the valley, when I see over the treeline, It is easier to see which direction I need to go. In life’s valleys, things are similar. There are times when it is difficult to see above my problems and difficulties to find hope and direction.

Gratitude gets me above the treeline.

The knowledge that valleys and wildernesses have difficult moments is helpful but it doesn’t help us through them. In fact that knowledge can become more burdensome as time drags on. It can be like a bur in your saddle, a spec of dirt in your eye, a splinter in your thumb, a mild irritant that becomes a big pain if it isn’t dealt with.

The truth is, I’m in a season that is tough. There are times when it feels like Groundhog Day and I keep bumping into Ned Reyerson the insurance salesman. “Watch out for that first step. It’s a DOOZY!!!”

When your day, year, or decade is on a doom loop, how do you protect yourself from slipping into bitterness or hopelessness? Another way to say it is this:

How can you be thankful during a time you’re not really thankful for?

The season that I’m in, has lasted for a few years. Over that time, God has been teaching me a few skills to survive in the wilderness. Skills that you can only hone if you are suffering without much relief. Maybe you are there too. I’d love to hear what is in your survival skills backpack. Please comment below.

The most important tool in my survival pack these days is gratitude. Depending on the day, that list could be long or short. There are days when the list is short but it should be longer because the pain keeps me from seeing all of the many things that I have to be thankful for.

Here are a few things I include on that list:

#1 My current health. Look, I’m fifty-two now. The level of fitness that I can achieve at this age is not the same as when I was in my thirties or forties. It’s different. I get winded a lot easier, things ache post workout that didn’t used to ache. There have been times when I reached behind me in the car to get something in the backseat and two days later I realized that I had pulled a muscle. Two…days…later. Ugh!

I am not using this as an excuse not to get healthier, stronger, or change my workout/diet routine. Certainly, I can do things at this age to slow the aging process but I cannot turn back the hands of time. I will never be at the level of fitness I was twenty years ago. What I have begun to realize is that with each year things change. Next year and a decade from now, things will be different.

That’s why I need to appreciate what I have today before it slips away.

You have to embrace a “carpe diem” mentality with your health so that you can be thankful for your current reality because someday, you’ll wish you could take a time machine back to fifty two. Be thankful for your health today.

If you are struggling through a health crisis right now, that is a different set of circumstances. In those moments, we can hope and pray for better. We live during a time of amazing medical and pharmaceutical advances. We should take advantage of that and pray for better health. We should also thank God for those advances.

I love the way Solomon writes about the seasons we go through in Ecclesiastes:

There is an occasion for everything, and a time for every activity under heaven:” Ecclesiastes 3:1

Every season has something to be grateful for. In this season, how can you thank God for your health?

#2 People who love me. Not the critics. Not people that I have to chase after to call me back. The people who are checking in on me regularly and are wondering how I am doing. The ones that are there for me when I need it most. I don’t care if you have twenty names on that list or two. Dang, if you have one consider yourself blessed!

When we live in bitterness and jealousy of others, we neglect the greater blessings that are right in front of us. Truthfully, I have maybe ten to fifteen friends that actively communicate with me to see how I am doing. I do my best to do the same. Sidenote, this might be a great time to do introspection to see if you are checking in on other people without them checking on you first.

This would also be a good time to remind you that the critics are not the people who love you. I know, you already knew that. However, the amount of time we spend chasing our critics, trying to prove them wrong or worse, trying to please them, is unreal. It is time wasted from spending that in pursuit of or being thankful for the people that love us and support us at all costs.

Here’s my point, I am thankful for the ten to fifteen people. I am not bitter toward the multitudes who have other priorities. That person that I used to be close to ten years ago, that no longer calls, I am thankful for the connection we once had but I try not to dwell on what we lost. I’m thankful for the ten. I’m thankful for the past ten.

If you are reading this, I am thankful for you.

Paul in His letters to churches scattered abroad, would consistently express his gratitude to people who stayed connected to him and his work.

“I give thanks to my God for every remembrance of you, always praying with joy for all of you in my every prayer” Philippians 1:3-4

#3 Honest conversation with God. Many times we approach prayer like we would a Christmas wish list. There are seasons when it is difficult not to. If the pressure’s on or each day seems like a hellish nightmare-scape, we pray to get out of it. I totally understand that. I’ve been there myself. I might be there tomorrow. However, when I have the presence of mind to think this way, it is more helpful for me to view prayer as a conversation and less of a transaction. I can talk to God as I am going through something difficult, expressing dismay at my current circumstances.

I think that is why Jesus encouraged us to do it privately and not to go on and on in prayer, as if God is impressed with the number of nouns, verbs and adjectives we use. When I view prayer as conversation I naturally confess the areas where I’ve messed up, what my needs are, and honest about what my frustrations with Him might be.

“But when you pray, go into your private room, shut your door, and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” Matthew 6:6

Sure, praying privately was an antidote to being like the Pharisees who made a show of it and wanted to be seen praying. At the same time, it is how you cultivate a deep and abiding relationship with God. You make it personal.

Be thankful that God is a close friend that cares about your well-being.

#4 Food on the table. I’ve made a habit over the years of praying over my food before I eat it. It is a reminder that God provides the food that hits our table. Yes, I’m aware we earn the money and go to work day in and day out. However, God provides the opportunity for the job and the health that I currently have to sustain the work I do.

Are there times when I wish I was eating a steak and lobster instead of a ham sandwich with bread and the store brand mayonnaise? Sure. However, I do have food to eat and my family has never missed a meal….unless they skipped it or ate too much junk food. Yes kids, I’m talking to you! (Like they read my blogs. Hilarious.)

Jesus ate with His disciples and thanked God for the last supper. You heard me right. The last meal Jesus ever ate, He was thankful for.

“When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them.” Luke 24:30

Even though we frequently use this verse in Communion observance, there is no reason we can’t look at it from a practical standpoint as well. Jesus is having a meal and is probably doing what He’s done 100 times before. He gives thanks. Maybe it is even more impactful knowing that He is thankful for the last meal He will have on earth. For the record, it’s bread and wine, not caviar and chocolate mousse.

Paul writes:

“Whoever observes the day, observes it for the honor of the Lord. Whoever eats, eats for the Lord, since he gives thanks to God; and whoever does not eat, it is for the Lord that he does not eat it, and he gives thanks to God.”

That is thankfulness. To thank God for the food in front of you and thank him for the food that isn’t in front of you. Maybe being thankful for your food is simply a mindset of thankfulness for being alive.

Thank God for His provision in the lean times and in times of abundance.

#5 Clothes on my back. If I am clothed I am blessed. It doesn’t matter if I am wearing an Armani suit or discount clothes from Walmart. By the way, let’s not hate on Walmart. In recent years they’ve stepped up their game. Sure, my standards are lower at 52 but the truth is, my choices are better now than they were ten years ago.

My point is, if you have your needs met, you have something to celebrate. It is okay to want to do better or pursue a promotion but when those things aren’t quite working out, thankfulness for what you have is life giving. If you can manage to wear an Armani suit and still be thankful for the years you repped Walmart and be thankful for Armani at the same time, you’re doing pretty good too.

By the way, Jesus is an expert at asking questions. Since we’re on the topic of food and clothing, remember this classic question Jesus posed:

“Isn’t life more than food and the body more than clothing?” Matthew 6:25

In the moments when you don’t have the clothes or food you want, or maybe even enough of both of those, be thankful for your life and another opportunity to do better than the day before.

#6 Simple pleasures that I often ignore. On that topic. How about the everyday simple pleasures in life. Things like the air you breathe, a short walk around the block, the bed you sleep in, and maybe a laugh shared with a friend.

There is nothing good that we experience that cannot be viewed as a gift.

“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” James 1:17

The simple pleasures are the best gifts anyway. They are the only thing that cannot be taken from you.

#7 The way He shows up for me. Anxiety and bitterness are thieves. They take clarity from us in the everyday moments we can be experiencing God and they blind us to current realities.

I had a DAY recently! At 12:30 that day went haywire. I was upset that things were not going my way. I was upset about a class that I was subbing for and it was having behavioral problems. During lunch, I prayed and asked for God’s help. Here’s the thing, by 1:30 it had calmed down. I literally had a kid in my class that said “Sir, you deserve a raise.” My reply was “I totally agree with you. Can you talk to somebody about that?”

Here’s the thing. I am prone to rush to judgment. I get frustrated quickly and it often causes me to throw in the proverbial towel and call this “a bad day”.

God showed up for me in the form of new ideas for how to talk to those students. He showed me they weren’t “bad kids” they were just really close to a holiday and were done with school for the day. God redirected my approach and my thoughts about the people in my immediate vacinity.

Your list for how God is showing up for you will be different. It will be specific to your set of circumstances and the day you are having.

Here’s what I know, every time I have the presence of mind to do this, it helps. It doesn’t make the angst or anxiety melt away and I’m still facing the obstacles that got me there. But considering that God is with me and for me, changes my attitude.

“Above all, fear the Lord and worship him faithfully with all your heart; consider the great things he has done for you.” 1 Samuel 12:24

Keeping gratitude in front of you isn’t seasonal, it is daily. How about this? Maintain a steady presence of gratitude in your life throughout the year.

I’m not writing this article as my “Thanksgiving Day post”. I’m writing this because gratitude, toward God, is saving my life right now. It’s been doing that for the last few years. It just so happens that Thanksgiving is a good time to highlight that.

It isn’t a cheap “self help” way of tricking yourself either. When I train my eyes to see the gift that is right in front of me, it transforms my reality. When I cease to be grateful, I ignore the gift and the Giver.

“Even when I go through the darkest valley, I fear no danger, for you are with me;
your rod and your staff—they comfort me.” Psalm 23:4

To be clear, I’m not thankful for the pain that I’m in when traveling through the valley, I’m thankful for the presence of God and His Spirit that guides me. I’m thankful for HIs provision along that path that I often ignore because I am blinded to the ways He is showing up for me. I am thankful for the talents, values, and people He has given me to get me through.

That is the gratitude that is saving me right now. It is only possible with His presence beside me.

Be thankful for His presence even if the path is bumpy.

Happy Thanksgiving everybody! God bless you and your families. My prayer is that you experience His generosity and the gratitude that accompanies His gifts.

Peace be with you my friends.

Matt