Sometimes focusing on God’s “big miracles”—like curing cancer and making brain tumors disappear—causes us to overlook His small, daily miracles of providence in which He holds the universe together, keeps our hearts beating, provides us with air to breathe and lungs to breathe it, and gives us food to eat and stomachs to digest it. 

Charles Spurgeon shared this in his sermon “Knowledge. Worship. Gratitude”: "Let us begin to be very thankful, if we have not been so before. Let us praise God for common mercies, for they prove to be uncommonly precious when they are once taken away."

The Israelites in the wilderness are unbearably similar to us. When their circumstances are good, they see God. 

I appreciated these thoughts on gratitude from William Law (English cleric and theological writer, 1686 –1761), excerpted from his book A Serious Call To a Devout and Holy Life. 

Years ago, I determined that I wanted to write a book on the importance of gratitude in the Christian life. But not long ago I read Nancy Leigh DeMoss’s book Choosing Gratitude and realized I no longer needed to!

Gratitude never comes from avoiding difficulty, but from finding yourself sustained through it. 

A Christian I met in passing once told me it troubled him that he really didn’t long for Heaven. Instead, he yearned for an Earth that was like God meant it to be.

This was our first Christmas with family numbered in double digits. Nanci and I are deeply grateful for our wonderful daughters, our awesome sons-in-law and our four priceless grandsons. Including Jack, little Santa.  

I’ve had nearly six weeks now in which I’ve no longer experienced the depression I was battling the prior two months, which I blogged about June 30. (See also part 2 of this Spurgeon series.) Like some physical problems I’ve had, I don’t know why the depression came or why it left. (Add this to my very long list of things I can’t explain.)