Leaves are donning fall hues while temperatures chill, and our calendars continue their march forward. With the approaching holiday season, reminders are everywhere to adopt an attitude of gratitude. But, if I’m honest, sometimes my inner dialogue is more grumbling than gratitude.
Verses about gratitude fill the pages of God’s Word. Gratitude is crucial to our faith walk and essential to living victoriously. Yet it isn’t only a powerful weapon against defeat but can pave the way for extraordinary encounters with God. I don’t know about you, but those are the types of experiences I desire with my Savior, and my grumbling is not going to get me there.
In Matthew 14:13-21 we find the familiar story of Jesus feeding the five thousand. Sometimes we can miss a message in a passage because we skim over the verses we have heard before. Yet neatly tucked away in the details of this story, we find what prepared the soil for the supernatural event that followed:
“And [Jesus] directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, He gave thanks, and broke the loaves. Then He gave them to the disciples and the disciples gave them to the people” (Matthew 14:19, NIV).
We know the story goes on to say that they all ate and were satisfied, leaving behind 12 disciple-sized doggy bags of leftovers. Giving thanks was the setup for the impossible, and that’s just the kind of setting our God likes to step into.
Friends, a grateful heart sets the stage for the supernatural and can be a magnet for miracles. Place offerings of thankfulness before God regularly and watch how He shows up. Your miracle may manifest before your very eyes!
