The Power of Gratitude
President Ucthdorf asked the question: Have we not reason to be filled with gratitude, regardless of the circumstances in which we find ourselves?
As members of the church we are constantly giving thanks and showing gratitude for all that Heavenly Father does for us in all the prayers we say, the songs we sing and the testimonies we bare. We give thanks for the Sabbath day, the temples, the many blessings we receive and every meal we have.
But do we show our gratitude for the hardships, the trials, and the pain that we encounter? Do we show gratitude when something bad happens to us or someone that we love? Nope! Not always. And sometimes never.
It’s very easy during our trials and our hardships to have our vision blurred and for us to be filled with more anger, confusion, and frustration than it is to feel love, peace, and gratitude. Everyone’s situation is different. Sometimes we want to give up because the pain is too much and we think in the moment that there is nothing that would take away the bitterness and pain that our lives are dealing with. But there is one thing we can do and that is to be grateful. We can be grateful! Today, every day and all the time. For every death we can be grateful, for every pain, and trial we face we can be grateful.
I have found that in my life when it rains it pours. And not just some light pouring and maybe some hale. I’m talking Category 5 Irma. But I’ve also learned during the course of my life that when things have gone wrong and I haven’t understood it at the time inevitably it is because when I look back at those times they ended up leading my life to somewhere so much better than I could ever have imagined that they would. And because of that I have learned to trust that even if it’s not going my way, it is usually because it is going Gods way. His way is much different than ours. He has a much better route for us to take then the one we have created for ourselves. Heavenly Father is a strategic man, he knows what we need and when we need it. Nothing that he does is just by chance, everything happens for a reason. And those reasons we will be forever grateful for.
I just wanted to share some excerpts from the talk I gave in church today in hopes that whoever sees this whenever feels touched and can understand the power of gratitude. Happy Sabbath my friends!!!!
