Hello OCC Family,
Earlier this week, my phone rang, and on the other end was a young man from my Indian reservation. When I answered, I could hear the tears in his voice before he said a single word. “Life is so hard,” he said, his voice breaking. “I don’t know how much more I can take.” As we talked, I listened. I let him pour out his heart and reminded him that God sees him, knows him, and loves him. His countenance began to change. By the time we finished talking, he was thanking God. His grappling had turned into gratitude.
Isaiah 43:2 says, “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.” God doesn’t say “if” you pass through waters. God says “when.” This is a promise of presence. God says, “I will be with you.” That’s the anchor we can cling to when everything else feels like it’s hard, or challenging, or a mess.
The young man started our conversation grappling with overwhelming heartache. He ended it expressing gratitude. What happened in between? He experienced being heard. He felt God’s presence through connection. His circumstances hadn’t changed, his problems remained, but something inside him transformed. Grappling means wrestling, struggling, fighting against what feels impossible. Gratitude means recognizing we’re walking through the fire with God beside us. The kind of change the young man had, in the instance of our phone call, happens when we stop focusing on the size of our problems and rather start recognizing the presence of our God. In times of joy and times of struggle, the Lord walks with us, inviting us all to move from grappling to gratitude. That’s the journey we’re all on together, one that should seek out gratitude.
Wherever you find yourself today, in the waters, in the fire, or on solid ground, God is with you. We are all learning, more and more, to move from grappling to gratitude more quickly for our own good. Gratitude is not denial. Gratitude is resistance to being overcome by the hard. May we lean into gratitude this week. Gratitude that remembers God’s goodness. Gratitude that finds light in the darkness. Gratitude that anchors our soul. Amen.
Lean Into Gratitude Together,
Rev. Tam
