THaNksGiviNG Thursday...A Challenge of Ungrateful Gratefulness

"I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds."

~Psalm 9:1 ESV

I'm challenging myself for the remainder of this month to be more thoughtful in giving thanks to God.  My challenge isn't just to give thanks for His obvious wonderful deeds, which is indeed something I need to work on; rather, my challenge is to give thanks for the less obvious wonderful deeds.

In other words, for the next 19 days I'm going to thank God for the very things I would be UNgrateful for.  That's right!  I'm going to thank God for the frizzy hair, the prominent pimple, the slow driver in front of me, the argumentative middle schooler, the pressing parent, the cold coffee, the burnt toast, and the ripped pants.  I'm going to thank Him for the stresses, the sicknesses, the heartaches, the waiting, the loneliness, the longing; and I'm going to thank God for the missed opportunities, the forgetfulness, and the fiascos. Any ungratefulness will become my gratefulness for the remaining days of this month.

I realize I'm opening a massive door of opportunity for God to test me.  A lot of circumstances of ungrateful proportions could be coming my way after stating such a challenge.  Here's the thing, though...if I'm not willing to turn an ungrateful thing into a grateful one, then I'm not willing to fully trust God.

I want (and need) to fully trust God because every step I take, I want to take in the right direction.  I'm totally willing to be tested and be refined by the fire so that my faith is genuine and so that God receives the glory (see 1 Peter 1:6-7).  I pray that you, too, are willing to take this challenge...er...step of faith with me.  If anything, wouldn't it be amazing to no longer have anything to be ungrateful for?