Thank You! Gratitude Heals

  

The other day I read in Luke 17 the true story of the ten lepers whom Jesus healed -- from sores and blisters, missing digits and, even worse I think, alienation, to wholeness. Complete wholeness of body. 

One -- only one -- of the lepers returned to thank him.

Why didn't the others?
As I've counseled Christian women, I've made the age-old observation: Hurting people hurt. As you may have surmised, hurting people -- in part because they hurt -- withhold words of gratitude. I don't think this is purposeful. It is another sign of their pain: looking inward.

Here are Counselors' Coach, you'll continue to discover ways to comfort your hurting Christian friend and minister to her. You'll know she's getting better when she shows an attitude of gratitude.

She is no longer a living example of the beaten man whom the Good Samaritan hoisted on his donkey and brought to an inn, where he bandaged his wounds and paid for is stay (Luke 10:30-35). Now she is encouraging others. She is becoming a comforter, just as God said.

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God" (2 Corinthians 1:3-4).

The leper who returned to Jesus to say "thank you" is a beautiful example of a person of gratitude. Amazingly, especially to the Jews of the day, the grateful man was a Samaritan. Jews categorized Samaritans as no-good halfbreeds. Yet he was the one whom Jesus said, "Rise and go, your faith has made you well."

Wow. He was not only healed in body but in Spirit.

As I considered the leper, my thoughts traveled to rural Alabama.

It was the early Seventies. Blond-haired, blue-eyes my skin colored cream. No wonder neighbors stared. My dad had steered our stationwagon onto back roads where dark-skinned people lived in one- and two-room shacks.

He had business with a man entitled to inherit a good sum of money from a deceased relative. I cared less about business. The chickens and rabbits that pecked and hopped in the overgrown yard held my attention.

My mom whispered, "Play outside, Lucy. They just have a dirt floor inside." My brother, Ted , and I and the two kids about our ages chased chickens, climbed trees and shared Christmas candy canes.

Later, she looked at me nervously. Could it be that Ted and I had creamy skin and theirs was mocha?

At Starbucks, this is a sought-after combo. However, back then, not long after the assassinations of Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr., few white kids played with black kids. . .and we certainly didn’t share candy canes.

As in I lick, then you lick, then I lick, then you, me, you. Us.

The next day we returned to the shack, carrying bags of groceries. My mom had selected carefully. Nothing perishable. The family had no refrigerator, electricity, or even running water.

Tucked in the beds were a ball and a jumping rope and candy canes. Lots of candy canes.

"Thanks!" they yelled after us as our stationwagon bumped down the road. Just like the one leper.

Ever wonder what prevents your hurting friend from developing an attitude of gratitude? Fear? Inner turmoil? Addiction? Difficult marriage? Even the distraction of wealth?

Whatever the case, God commands you, me, and your hurting friend to be thankful. Consider these verses:

"Give thanks to the LORD, call on His name, make known among the nations what He has done" (1 Chronicles 16:8).

"But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Corinthians 15:57).

"Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe" (Hebrews 12:28).

When we thank God, something wonderful happens. We think less of ourselves and more of Him.

Encourage your hurting friend to try two simple things:

1. Keep a journal of thanks. Each day she writes at least one reason to thank God.

2. Begin each day with a goal of doing one simple act of kindness.

As your hurting friend begins to express thankfulness, chances are that she'll see amazing changes, and her hurt won't hurt so much.

Living with open hands, offering all who she is to God, including her struggles and her joy-filled times, will transform her thinking as well as her emotions. She'll become a comforter.

Question: How have you seen this play out in your own life? Please share a comment. 

 

Comments

[Andrea@Unfailinglyloved]

Thank you, Lucy. I would also add that continually seeking and believing who God is, is also another motivator for thankfulness. I can hardly stand in the reality of Who He has been in my life, without gratitude and love flowing from my heart.