“Let all that I am praise the Lord; with my whole heart, I will praise His holy name.
Let all that I am praise the Lord; may I never forget the good things He does for me.
He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases.
He redeems me from death and crowns me with love and tender mercies.
He fills my life with good things. My youth is renewed like the eagle’s!”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭103‬:‭1‬-‭5‬ ‭NLT‬‬

A meaning of battle that fits into this context is “to struggle tenaciously to achieve or resist something.” Gratitude means “the quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness.“

The question is, can gratitude be a battle?

Yes, it can be! It’s easy to express gratitude when things are working as they should. What happens when they’re not though?

Psalm 103:1-2 NLT is a scripture I’ve referred to again and again in recent times. God has been phenomenal in my life and He deserves the gratitude. I’ve found myself going back to this scripture, though, when it seems my back is against the wall, to force myself to remember God’s goodness. And sometimes, forcing myself to remember is like going against the grain because circumstances just want you to sink in despair. Gym peeps, I guess you build muscle by constantly adding to the weights you lift right? I assume when you’re ok with lifting some weights, it doesn’t do much to you anymore because you’ve reached a plateau and would need to add more for a greater effect, yeah? 🙂

Just like the increasing weights, allowing circumstances that force us to exert the truth of God’s Word is one of the ways I believe God helps us build spiritual muscle. Sometimes, I joke to God: “Father, I don’t think I’m that stubborn. Just tell me the lesson and I’ll obey; we don’t have to do this “going through” stuff (cos who wants avoidable pains?!) 🤣 but Abba knows better. Additionally, our battles are not just for us. They’re also a way we bear each other’s burdens (Gal 6:2; Romans 15:1-2); experiencing some pains provides a depth that makes it relatable when we comfort others going through similar.

Do you find yourself in a circumstance when you’d rather complain than express gratitude to God? I encourage you to choose gratitude (yes, it is a choice 😅) rather than the opposite. It may be a battle doing so and sometimes you’ll have to do it through tears, clenched teeth or even mechanically but push through; you’ll hit the fountain of joy and feel better. I cannot guarantee the situation might physically change immediately but it can be a sacrifice and spiritually, you may well have covered mileage that would manifest in due season.

There are several benefits of gratitude to believers. Some include:

  1. It keeps our hearts tender and in sync with God. Unthankfulness leads to avoidable foolishness: “Because, having the knowledge of God, they did not give glory to God as God, and did not give praise, but their minds were full of foolish things, and their hearts, being without sense, were made dark.” Romans 1:21 BBE
  2. Deliverance from troubles.
    “Make thankfulness your sacrifice to God, and keep the vows you made to the Most High. Then call on me when you are in trouble, and I will rescue you, and you will give me glory.” Psalm 50:14-15 NLT
  3. Salvation.
    “But giving thanks is a sacrifice that truly honors me. If you keep to my path, I will reveal to you the salvation of God.” Psalms 50:23 NLT

Remember, if you have breath, you qualify to PRAISE THE LORD! (Ps 150:6)

Let’s choose to be wise and battle through to a life of consistent gratitude ❤️

Blessing
(C) Lydia Ndagilaya for PneumwaWord 🙂