Scriptures: Matthew 6:8, 1 John 1:8-9, Hebrews 4:13-16

Coming to God Just as I Am 

I’m grateful God calls us to come to Him as we are. 

I also struggle with that invitation. I want to approach God as different than I actually am. 

I want to come to God: 

• Free from the pain I feel. 
• Lighter than the fear that burdens me. 
• Boldly full of faith, not wrestling with questions, doubts, or uncertainty. 

I’m grateful God invites me just as I am. But sometimes I wish I wasn’t such a mess. 

The beauty though, of you and me coming to God just as we are, is that we don’t have to clean ourselves up before we come. 

You don’t have to pretend that hard circumstances are easy. You can come to God honestly.

And God doesn’t just tolerate your honesty, He longs for it. 

In Matthew 6:8 Jesus tells us that our Heavenly Father knows what we need before we even ask Him. In the past, I was embarrassed God knew my needs. I used God’s awareness as a reason to stay away, when actually it’s encouragement to draw near. 

God is familiar with your struggle. He already knows—even more than you do—how much you need Him today. He wants to show you He’s close, and that He cares for you. No matter how messy the need feels, God will minister to you in the midst of it. 

You, like me, may want to hide away until you can present a better version of yourself to God. To clean up your heart, life, attitude, circumstance, to feel more acceptable to Him before you come. 

God already cherishes you. 

All healing and transformation, all the grace and mercy you need come from God. We can’t find them without Him. 

Hebrews 4 tells us we’re all naked and exposed before God, nothing hidden. I’ve read that verse before as an ominous warning. It sounded uncomfortable and terrifying to be fully exposed before our Holy God. But don’t stop reading there. 

The passage continues on, assuring us that Jesus sympathizes with our frailty. His intimate awareness offers us confidence to draw near, not condemnation to make us stay away. In His presence we receive the mercy and grace He already knows we need. 

Choose uncommon gratitude. With all your limits and struggles, you are welcomed in God’s embrace, just as you are. 

God, thank You that I can come to You just as I am.

There’s unexpected blessings in long difficult journeys. Join me tomorrow and discover the gratitude God offers you in seasons of waiting or delay.

Scriptures: Romans 8:28, 2 Peter 3:4, 2 Peter 3:8-9, Lamentations 3:22-26

The Hard Long Way 

I don’t naturally thank God for difficult long journeys. 

But most worthwhile things require that we travel the hard long way in order to reach the goal. 

• Waiting for a spouse. 
• Developing a skill. 
• Dreaming of the family you want to build. 
• Healing from chronic pain. 
• Walking in your calling. 
• Recovering from a deep heart wound. 

My life is FULL of hard long journeys. I vividly remember a prolonged season of waiting as my husband Jared and I prayed for babies. We had unexplained complications, got pregnant four times, had two losses, and now have two boys on earth that we get to raise. 

I’m still on the hard long way in so many areas. 
Some occur because I’m slow to learn lessons. 
Others because of external circumstances when my timelines don’t align with God’s, the fallen state of our world, or simply the trek is intended to take a while. We get to engage in lifelong journeys of following Christ, and for most of us, that’s not a brief adventure. 

Where you may want to expedite progress, find shortcuts, and skip ahead to your favorite finish lines, God uses the hard long path for your good. This extended way often provides for things you need.

• Character required to walk in your call. 
• Timing for your baby’s birth in line with the goodness God plans for their lives. 
• Greater awareness to take your best next step. 
• Preparation for the right relationships. 
• Trust in God no matter what comes. 
• Incremental gains that compound into massive transformation. 

I’m here to remind you that God isn’t slow. 

Second Peter 3:9 begins “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise…” God uses even the longest most difficult journeys for your good, and He is available to you every step of the way. 

In the New King James Version, the phrase “the Lord is not slow” is translated “the Lord is not slack.” 

God is not slacking off in His care for you. 

If you find yourself on a painfully prolonged journey, seize this opportunity to remember His faithfulness and patience toward you. Let it prompt uncommon gratitude and thank Him for His goodness in this hard long way. 

God, thank You for Your goodness in the hard long way.

It’s pretty common to thank God for what we have. But when is the last time you thanked God for what you don’t have? We’re doing that tomorrow and you won’t want to miss it.

Scriptures: 2 Corinthians 5:17, Titus 3:3-6, Psalms 107:4-9, Psalms 107:43

What Isn’t 

Most of the time when we think of expressing thanks, it’s for the gifts we have: food, shelter, provision, family. And it can feel more natural to consider what isn’t in our lives as prayer requests, not praise reports. 

But sometimes gifts from God are in what we don’t have. 

Today let’s embrace this uncommon approach to gratitude and give thanks for what isn’t in our lives. 

Think back to a tough season. 

Maybe it was just a hard time, or it could even be before you received salvation. What trajectory was your life on before God intervened? 

What “not great” things were once your norm, but now no longer exist in your life? Think about how you’ve changed and grown since then. Maybe even from who you were as a teen to who you are now. 

What did you struggle with before that doesn’t plague you any longer? 

What’s a lie you long believed but you don’t tolerate anymore? 

What character traits has God formed or transformed in you as a new creation? 

Think back on a time that God rescued you. 

Again, this could be salvation, or it could be when He opened your eyes to a dangerous path. What difficulty had you previously accepted as your unwelcomed lot in life, but then God brought you truth and freedom? 

One example for me is my internal self-talk. My natural self-critic is loud, mean, and bossy. Only within the past few years did I learn that not everyone’s internal dialogue is as resounding or as cruel as mine used to be. I still remember the pivotal moment I realized I could adjust the tone and volume of my self-criticism. 

When talking with God about my old loud mean internal voice, I felt Him say to me, “You used to think that’s how I talked to you, too.” So I started a journey of changing how I spoke to myself, and how I listened for God’s true loving voice. 

The whole of Psalm 107 is powerful to read and study as you recall what “once was” in your life and “what isn’t” any longer. I encourage you, read the verses selected in this plan as a celebration of God’s steadfast love. Let it prompt uncommon gratitude for what isn’t yours anymore. 

God, thank You that those things aren’t in my life anymore.

Join me tomorrow as we thank God for our areas of need. It’s going to be good!

Scriptures: Psalms 46:1, 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, Ephesians 2:4-9

Needs & Mistakes 

Benjamin Franklin, among others, is credited with a popular saying about high achievers. “If you want something done, ask a busy person.” 

I fondly consider myself as one of those busy people who can get things done. I’m a can-do achiever. Type A, strong work ethic, and resourceful. God made me this way, and I’m grateful. 

However, this also means I can have a hard time when I’m confronted with my limitations. I hate making mistakes. I stress over showing up as less than my 100% best at all times. I struggle to ask for help. That’s why our uncommon gratitude today is thanking God for needs and mistakes. 

GRACE is giving us the good that we didn’t earn and don’t deserve. 

MERCY is not giving us the bad that we did earn and do rightly deserve. 

In my faulty way of thinking, I don’t want to need grace or mercy. I want to have everything under control. 

But God freely gives us both grace and mercy. He doesn’t offer those gifts reluctantly either; He delights in doing so. 

Let’s cultivate gratitude for some gaps, needs, and mistakes that help us see God’s faithfulness and receive His care. In these needs, you can receive God’s grace and mercy. 

I’ll start with some quick everyday moments: 

• Have you ever dropped your phone, and the screen didn’t shatter? 
• Ran late for a meeting (or missed it altogether) and received reminders of your human limitations? 
• Have you snapped at a loved one and received forgiveness? 
• Used all your energy too early in the day and relied on God and others to make it through? 

Now some ongoing needs: 

• What circumstances in your life are beyond what you can handle on your own? 
• Is there a breakthrough you need that’s entirely outside of your control? 
• What longing of your heart can only God answer? 
• What human mistakes require God’s supernatural redemption? 

Those needs can cultivate dependence on God and your awareness of Him as you see His faithfulness in practical, tangible ways. 

Needs and mistakes can prompt uncommon gratitude, not just for the future end you hope for, but also in how God already uses those areas of lack for your good. 

God, thank You for Your care in my needs and mistakes.

We wrap up the plan tomorrow with the most Uncommon Gratitude of them all! See you then!

Scriptures: 2 Samuel 24:18-25, Hebrews 10:8-10, Hebrews 13:15-16, Psalms 107:22

Sacrifice of Thanksgiving 

As modern-day believers, sacrifices aren’t always a common topic of conversation. But today’s uncommon gratitude is offering God a sacrifice of thanks. 

The Old Testament often describes animal sacrifices the Israelites made to God. In 2 Samuel 24, King David wanted to offer God a sacrifice on the land of Araunah the Jebusite. Araunah wanted to give him everything he needed, but David refused to give God an offering that cost him nothing. 

As people of the New Covenant under Christ, we don’t practice animal sacrifices. Christ’s death is the ultimate expression of God’s love for us, and He atoned for our sins once and for all. 

Also, Hebrews 13 tells us that sacrifices of praise or “thank offerings” of spoken praise, doing good, and sharing what you have, are pleasing to God. 

Maybe it’s preparing food for your family when you’re tired. 

Handling inconveniences with patience and understanding. 

Extending grace in inconsiderate conversations. 

I don’t know what your day holds. But I know you’ll have opportunities to offer God expressions of gratitude that cost you something. 

I’m reminded of an old story I heard once from Pastor Jack Hayford. I’m retelling it from memory, but the story goes something like this. Pastor Jack was visiting a church when they held a spontaneous offering. He pulled out his wallet and saw a five-dollar bill and a fifty-dollar bill inside. Knowing he was going out to dinner after the service, he put $5 in the offering basket when it passed by. Later that night he opened his wallet to pay for dinner and found only a five-dollar bill inside. At this point he said internally to God, “oh no, Lord, I meant to give $5, and I gave $50 instead.” To which God replied, “Don’t worry Jack, I knew your intent. I received it as $5.” 

What a humorous and relatable illustration of how God looks at our hearts. The same gift can be a $5 or $50 offering depending on the intent of your heart. The same activity can be a typical response or become a sacred sacrifice of gratitude. 

Decide in your heart to use praise-filled words, do good, and share what you have with vibrant and uncommon gratitude. In doing so, you partner with God as He cultivates your heart of thanks. The scent of your sacrificial thanksgiving pleases Him. 

God, thank You for receiving thank offerings.