Episode #77-Spiritual Basics #3

Being in a posture of Gratitude - understanding Gods Grace and Mercy at any and all moments cultivate your relationship with the Spirit 

Transcript

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This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine. Hello and welcome to Shine. I'm your host, Nicole Florence, and we have been talking about the spiritual basics. We've talked about prayer, we've talked about knowing the word, and of course the last piece if I would consider it ABCs of spiritual wellness, of course, is gratitude. Now we talk about gratitude, we talk about thankfulness a lot, and I think we've um I've even had an episode uh before, so I apologize if this is a repeat, but always good to hear it again. Um gratitude to me is a posture of understanding that in any moment I am in a place where it is because of God's mercy and it is also because of God's grace, meaning at any given moment, even right now, as I sit here at my kitchen table watching the sunrise, waiting for my hummingbirds, listening to the birds, I own a place of understanding that it is only because of God's mercy that I am here in this moment. Because we all know things could be a lot different, right? I could be I could be sitting in a hospital bed, I could be um in a place where there is war in the country or famine, I could be in so many um different places right now, but by God's mercy I am where I am. And by God's grace, I am where I am. What do I mean? Sitting here watching the sunrise, listening to the birds. Um, yep, there's a few hummingbirds. I am in a place that I do not deserve, nor have I earned on my own. And it is by God's grace that I am in this moment. So when I look at the difference between being thankful as well as being grateful, I feel gratefulness truly confers that deeper sense of understanding God's mercy and God's grace. And when you begin to truly practice that, you have a deeper sense of spiritual wellness, spiritual guidance. Um, you are able to have a deeper understanding of the moments that have been created for you and given to you. And it's something that you can easily practice. And yes, people have gratitude journals, and I think that's great, it works for them. What I find is learning to practice it at any moment or with any pause throughout my day, uh, at the beginning of my day, at the end of my day. I believe there are always those times or those pauses where you can practice that. First thing in the morning, I'm grateful for the breath that I've been given. I am grateful for being able to get out of bed on my own, which we know many people may not have that. I was standing at the train the other day, it's right by my office. It was an unusually long uh cargo train, and I stopped and you know what? I took out my earbuds. Um, I wanted to hear the train, I wanted to hear the people around me. I understood that that was a grateful moment to be outside, to be um in the sun, and to have a pause um in my workday. And it was in that moment that a man about my age walked up next to me. Um we work, I work near a uh mission that helps um those who are unhoused, those with um substance abuse, um, people who just really need a space or place to just pause, get a cup of coffee, they have um AA classes, there's a church, um people can get uh clothes and food, you know, just uh a beautiful mission. So there's a lot of folks that are kind of walking in proximity, and I know many people put their head down, right? I'm not gonna look, I'm not gonna talk. Uh and he and I started to have a conversation, and we talked about how so many people uh are mad, they're in their cars, they're frustrated, this has been a long train, I'm gonna be late, you know, I have somewhere to go. Uh instead of maybe having a level of gratitude in that moment, and he shared with me that he in fact was in a place last year, about this time, where he was in the hospital. He had been uh very intoxicated. He doesn't remember exactly what happened, but he woke up on a ventilator with a cracked skull, um, blood on the brain. He was in the hospital uh for months, and through that time he was able to get clean from alcohol, he was able to heal, rehabilitate himself, and come out on the other side. And so when he stands at that train, he has a level of gratitude, uh, probably like no other, knowing that he was in a much different posture in space a year ago. And he shared that with me. And he actually, y'all, he started ministering to me. I loved it. He was telling me that it allowed him to be uh free of alcohol, to get his mind clear, but also for him to find God. And with that blessing, he himself started volunteering at the mission and then eventually has started working at the mission to help others who need to find their way. And I thought to myself, man, if I had kept my earbuds in, if I had kept to myself and not understood the moment of gratitude that I was in, I would have not been in a position to understand his moment of gratitude and his willingness for him to minister to me and give me his testimony. And being in that moment of gratitude allowed my spirit to be guided to him and his to me, and to have that beautiful moment that I do believe God created for us to have. So as you walk through your day, whether you're sitting in your car, you're pausing at lunch, you're uh washing the dishes, making dinner, I hope you can take those moments to say, I am grateful. By God's mercy, I am in this moment, and by God's grace, I am in this moment. I am in a place that I have not earned or deserved. It is only by God's grace, and by God's mercy. It is not worse, y'all, because Lord knows uh there have many times I've probably deserved a lot worse than uh what I've received and where I am. That posture that you put yourself will help you truly know and feel the Spirit and allow the Spirit to guide you on the path and purpose of your day and those many moments, small, those those moments that are big, to truly see them for what God has purposed them for. Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.