How to Knock on the Door of Gratitude
When I picture gratitude, I imagine a revolving door. A door that isn’t quite open, yet not quite closed. I see gratitude as a door waiting to be opened if only we would choose to knock.
From chore to a door
I didn’t use to view gratitude as a revolving door, waiting to be opened. I used to view it as a chore. Gratitude for me was just another thing I had to check off my list for the day. Inspired by Ann Voskamp’s One Thousand Gifts, I would grab my gratitude journal and sit down to record all of the things that I was thankful for that day. Oddly, the act of writing down these moments of thankfulness and praise began to feel heavy and tiresome.
Then suddenly, along with the rest of the world, I was forced to jump onto the tumultuous train that was 2020 and gratitude slipped even further away—the door closing tight on my heart. Anxiety and uncertainty took up space where peace and hope once lived.
I didn’t realize it then, but as I abandoned the practice of giving thanks, I also abandoned joy. I left peace, hope, and an open heart. I had no idea that gratitude was the key to unlocking an abundant life until I faced all the brokenness that was 2020.
Brokenness has a strange way of revealing our true selves, and as I felt my heart breaking, I could hear the sweet sound of Jesus beckoning me closer. He desperately wanted me to unwrap the gift of His constant, loving, wrap-around presence.
I am with you, always, Beloved. I want to be a part of it all. I want you to see me in everything.
He was calling me to behold Him in my everyday mundane moments, in the faces of the people around me, and in the dreams and goals He had placed in my heart to pursue. He was quite literally calling me to see Him in everything. I realized that the act of writing down the things I was thankful for had become so heavy because I had forgotten to take Jesus with me throughout my day.
I struggled to find gratitude, to give thanks, because I wasn’t looking for Him.
What is gratitude without searching for Christ?
How I opened the door of gratitude
When I began to look where Light poured into the cracks and rivets of my everyday life, gratitude found me instead of me striving for it. The revolving door of gratitude swung open with ease because I had decided to make myself more aware of His constant presence with me.
I didn’t know it then, but looking back at 2020, it was a year of unwrapping and discovering Emmanuel’s true gift: God With Us—God With Me.
Matthew chapter 7, verses 7-8, says this,
Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
I believe that when we expect to see God in our everyday lives, we’ll find Him because He is a God that longs to be found by those He already holds close. When we choose to look, search, and seek Him with our whole hearts, we stumble upon gratitude. This stumbling then opens our hearts to joy, peace, love, and an intentional and abundant life in Christ.
An invitation for you
I encourage you to behold Him, my friend. I pray that you would open your heart to Him and intentionally look for His Light in the everyday mundane and unwrap the true gift of Emmanuel: God With You.
I believe that this daily practice of beholding begins with asking, just as Matthew chapter 7, verse 7 tells us to do. Sweet friend, wherever you are, Christ is already with you. Invite Him into this very moment and ask Him to make you more aware of His presence with you.
He sees your heart, aching to behold more of Him, and I know that He will help you see.
Because when we choose to expect Christ, Christ expectantly leads us to the threshold of gratitude and ushers us into His arms of His amazing grace.
Meet Celia Miller
Celia is a wife, writer and avid lover and pursuer of Jesus. She and her husband reside in small town Indiana with their two very cute, but very ornery, fur babies. She works full-time in the health insurance industry but her true passion lies in sharing the heart of Jesus with others through her writing. Celia writes to remind you that you are fiercely beloved and fervently pursued by the One who created you. You can find her over on her blog at celiaamiller.com or go hangout with her on Instagram at @celiaamiller.
Where to find her . . .
Begin Within is a series to inspire a year-round lifestyle of gratitude that will impact not only your own life, but the lives of your neighbors as well. Gratitude is a theme we talk about often around here because it ties so closely into other missional living rhythms. Practicing gratitude reminds to keep our hearts soft and expectant and our eyes open. Therefore, the more we embrace gratitude, the easier it becomes to truly see our neighbors and where we can join what God is already doing in our neighborhoods.
My vision for this gratitude series is to help others embrace a year-round lifestyle of gratitude that will impact not only their own life, but the lives of their neighbors as well.
If you would like to contribute to Begin Within, you can find the submission guidelines here.
Creating Ripples
If you would like to cultivate rhythms in addition to gratitude that will empower you live on mission in your neighborhood, check out Cultivating a Missional Life: A 30-Day Devotional to Gently Help You Open Your Heart, Home, and Life to Your Neighbors. This small book will help you make a big impact in your neighborhood as you learn to let missional living flow from the inside out. Get the 30-day missional living challenge free when you purchase the book.
