The Composition of Gratitude

Habakkuk 3:17-18 is a passage which has clung closely over the years:

“Though the fig tree does not bud
and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
and no cattle in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the the LORD,
I will be joyful in God my Savior.”

...and usually in those moments when gratitude is the furthest thing from my questioning or listless thoughts.

What is it about circumstances which makes us so highly susceptible to being suspect of God, or at least, doubtful about why we should be praising Him? As one devotional phrases the friction, “Why should you allow any human experience to alter or affect your divine relationship with your Father?” (Come Away, My Beloved/Frances Roberts).

Circumstances are meant to shape, and sharpen us, but when we think that our “return,” what we offer God, is contingent upon what lies around us, then we prove ourselves to have misconstrued the true basis for giving thanks. For God does not come to us demanding that we “earn” His attention or affection, and neither should we relate to Him in such a way.

A lyric from a song I recently heard has stayed impressed upon me: “center of unbroken praise.” An old song (“Joyful, Joyful”), but one which struck me in a new manner, and which causes me to ponder how our lives are not only to be a continual surrender to Him, but also vessels through which we are constantly offering Him praise without having gifts in our hands to prompt us. Are we as willing to offer Him gratitude for who He is when we are “without” as when we count ourselves “blessed?” Are we steadfast in the way we come before God, always giving thanks to Him, not for His tangible gifts, but for His very Person? Are we willing to cry out with Habakkuk that our rejoicing comes in Him, independent of all else, no matter how much circumstances would bombard us? Can we even be grateful for the fact that it is through those very circumstances that we discover how deep our loyalty to Him lies?