Expectant Of Good Things

Matthew 7:11

‘So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him.’

Even the most optimistic person will have to admit that it has been hard to expect good things during the pandemic. With a constant news cycle of heart-breaking stories, optimism has been diminished for many of us. As Christians, however, we are called to be grateful and expectant of good things, as God is a good God, wanting to pour out blessings on his people.

The other day we saw this tweet from a lady:

My 8-year old in the car today: ‘Do you want me to throw the confetti in my pocket?’

Me: ‘No, not in the car! – Why do you have confetti in your pocket?’

8-year-old: ‘It is my emergency confetti. I carry it everywhere in case there is good news.’

We love this childlike optimism to actively seek opportunities to celebrate and be thankful and view every day with hope and joy.

One of our favourite Brene Brown* quotes is: ‘We hold the key to lasting happiness in our own hands. For it is not joy that makes us grateful; it is gratitude that makes us joyful.’

Changing how we look at things and searching for the best instead of focussing on the negative, allows us to operate in gratitude, which leads to greater joy. So this week, let's pack our pockets with confetti, search for opportunities to celebrate, be grateful, and be thankful for God's good things in store for us.

Prayer – Thank you, God, for all of the blessings in our lives…those that we can see and those that are hidden. Please help me to learn to cultivate joy and happiness in my life so that your goodness shines out of me in a world often filled with darkness.

*Quote from Brother David Steindl-Rast’s ‘Gratefulness, the heart of prayer: An approach to life in fullness (1984’)