Hope you are sane, safe and sanitized? Lockdown continues and our Prime Minister, Boris Johnson is back to work! I’m grateful to God for his healing. Do I sense a bit of ‘Churchill’ in his speeches?

One of the ways to help us get through this current time is to be thankful. The Bible has a lot to say about thankfulness, even when facing troubled times. A man called Paul wrote a lot of the letters in the New Testament and he was even put in prison because of his faith. However, he discovered the power of gratitude and wrote...

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”

— Philippians 4:6 The NIV Bible

For many, these are anxious times, are there are lots of things to bring before God in prayer! Paul understood this, but he said do that ‘with thanksgiving’. This is an important part of ‘wellbeing’.

There has been a lot of study in this area and the research has seen that:

Gratitude is a natural antidepressant
When we express gratitude, our brains release certain chemicals that make us feel good
There is a strong connection between gratitude and good health

Isn’t this just like God to make us in this way! Being thankful actually does us good! So, let me encourage you to find things to be grateful every day. It can something small or even insignificant, such has having running water or comfy chair! Be thankful, for it will do you good.

Finally, let me conclude with an old hymn called ‘Count Your Blessings’ as the chorus sums things up beautifully...

Count your blessings, name them one by one;

Count your blessings, see what God hath done;

Count your blessings, name them one by one,

And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.

Stay safe

God bless

Gary Bastin - Hope Community Church leader

Gratitude