The Power of a Grateful Heart

You never know what God may have in store through the ups and downs of life. After I had a breakthrough in December 2023 from a prolonged illness, my husband and I later ran into some friends at a get together. They saw him but didn’t recognize me. I had lost a lot of weight, so he had to point me out. That afternoon, I shared a few nuggets with our friend about my healing journey…and then the unexpected happened. She asked me to come share with her on a “Women’s Table Talk” she hosted. The Lord had already told me earlier in the year to follow Him through the open door. So, in faith, I said yes.
 
Tracing Gratefulness
Long story short, on November 18, 2024, eight months after the Lord told me to walk through that door, I was sitting “at the table” with our friend Minister Donna Edwards and Minister Vredena Gordon at Kingdom Life Fellowship in Fairview, Texas—getting ready to “talk” about my testimony. You see, there are times when the last thing you want to do is the first thing God wants you to do. I had already outlined about seven books during my healing journey and was seeking God about where He wanted me to begin. But until this moment, I didn’t think I was ready to talk about the extended challenge with my ear that had turned my life upside-down. As a result, I didn’t write about it.
 
Nevertheless, God was always with me: through every up, down, and in-between. But it can be hard to “see through the weeds” of life while you’re in the process, especially if it’s a difficult one. Seeing the big picture, what I now call “God’s-eye view,” often becomes clearest in the rearview mirror. As they say, hindsight is 20/20. So, as I prepared for this table talk reflecting on my journey, I not only saw the power of gratefulness; I was able to pinpoint when God shifted my heart out of grief and into a grateful posture. And that was when He started doing an incredible, unmistakable work in my spirit, soul, and body.
 
Give Thanks…in Everything
When we remember what God has brought us through, thanking Him for His love, wisdom, and faithfulness in everything, it brings powerful results. The Bible says, “in every situation [no matter what the circumstances] be thankful and continually give thanks to God; for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thess. 5:18, AMP). When God highlighted this scripture in my spirit, I was only beginning to understand more deeply the power of having a grateful heart. To start, this shift in my soul gave me greater peace, clarity, and purpose (I had lost all three). It also set me on the path to restored health.
 
You see, I have learned that gratefulness is the key that shifts our heart out of dark, pain-filled moments into the light of hope and restoration only God can give. Gratefulness lifted me out of a five-year season (starting in 2013) when I often found myself asking God, “Why is this happening to me?” and “Why am I losing everything I’ve ever known?” There were times when I even wondered if I was going to make it. But in 2018, gratitude shifted me into asking Him, “What can I do right from where I am?” My friend, only God’s love and dynamic power could do this. By His grace, God birthed a heart of gratefulness in me, which caused me to be thankful right where I was and ask what instead of why.
 
Receiving the Seeds of Wisdom
You see, in 2013, I had first asked God to heal me. He gently said in my spirit, “Pray for wisdom.” That caught me. I just wanted to be miraculously and instantly healed. But propped up in bed, overwhelmed by raging physical symptoms, unable to move my head or eyes in any direction…I said yes, and asked. God took it from there. I had no idea this was the beginning of a process that would lead to the pivotal moment I just spoke of (five years later) that He would shift me out of my “why” season of loss and grief into a new season. Yes, in 2018, I would begin to discover (in many unexpected ways) “what” He wanted me to do…right from where I was.
 
It doesn’t matter what you or I may be going through at this moment. Shifting out of why and into what opens the door to better, greater tomorrows. It unlocks passion in our heart again and opens us to our God-given purpose, promise, and endless possibilities. It opens our eyes to the big picture, God’s-eye view.
 
From Spirit to Soul to Body
As God would have it, in 2023, five years after the moment in 2018 when my heart made that dynamic shift, I saw a documentary about the mind-body connection. I quickly realized God had prepared me for that moment. It wasn’t a religious program, per se, but it opened my eyes to yet another way gratefulness is powerful. As I watched the doctors, scientists, health practitioners, and patients—relating strongly to many things I was hearing—I understood that my own healing journey, thirteen years total, had suddenly turned from a downward to an upward cycle when, at last, I had become grateful in my soul…in everything.
 
I sat wide-eyed as an organic chemist, talking about drug testing and using placebos, stated, “Belief itself shifts biology…”1 Then a well-known researcher and author who has analyzed 1,500 cases of medical remission around the world chimed in, “What you are believing and thinking at this moment is telling your immune system to either stop and not work…or [is saying], ‘…everything’s cool; why don’t we relax, and everything that needs to be cleaned up, clean up?’…You are either in fight or flight mode or you are in rest and repair, and it’s our beliefs that toggle that switch. So, beliefs are everything.”2
 
What? I wondered. Was I really hearing this? Scenes from the prolonged chronic illness I had endured from 2013–2018 (with symptoms starting in 2010) flashed through my mind. That is when I realized my turning point in 2018—which God had clearly led me to, preparing me every step of the way through His incredible wisdom—had brought me to this moment. My friend, it’s undeniable. The wisdom of God is everywhere and in everything, beginning in His presence and His Word.
 
But here’s the icing on the cake. As the documentary culminated to its conclusion, they focused on the importance of gratitude in the mind-body connection. A noted author and researcher shared, “We normally give thanks when we get something…If you are giving thanks in a state of gratitude, your body is believing something because the emotional signature of gratitude means it’s already happened…”3 Hmm, faith is the substance of what we hope for and the evidence of what we can’t see, right? (See Heb. 11:1.)
 
I was riveted. Glued to the screen. Another expert continued: “So, the more we can feel the feeling as if it’s already occurred and give thanks for being present, that is the trigger for the body to grow the nerve cells to make the connection for the brain chemistry to reflect that healing.”4 Wow! A grateful heart steadily releases incredible power in us: spiritually, mentally, emotionally, and physically. No wonder it is God’s will for us to give thanks in everything.
 
And the process? It’s necessary, too. I personally know from seeing a dear friend coming through a traumatic health crisis that nerve cells can take the longest time to grow. So, when we’re walking through a challenge, we just have to believe God and patiently keep at it, one step at a time, to overcome it. Every step of faith and perseverance, no matter how big or small it may be, can lead to wholeness.
 
I didn’t understand the 13-year cycle I had been through—three years of overlooking unknown symptoms (2010–2013); five years of battling chronic symptoms (2013–2018); and five years coming out of chronic illness (2018–2023)—until I was coming to the end of the process. Then I saw the documentary, and everything started coming together in my heart and mind.
 
Like I said, it’s hard to understand the big picture when we’re still struggling “in the weeds” of life. In other words, things can be extremely difficult while we’re focusing on what’s going wrong instead of what’s going right. When we’re focusing on what we may have lost (or don’t have) instead of being grateful for what we have already been given. But when we keep believing God despite what we may be going through, He’ll shift our heart into a posture of gratitude. And things will begin to change, His way.
 
It's Time to Overcome…Are You Ready?
Gratefulness not only reflects our faith in God; it brings every cell in our body to attention. It puts us in the spiritual, mental, and physical posture for our body to function according to God’s wonderful, all-knowing design. Could this be why 3 John 1:2 lets us know that we can prosper and be in health even as our soul prospers? Oh, yes, there is a powerful connection between our spirit, soul, and body! This multi-dimensional union is how we can overcome in this life: not in our own wisdom and strength, but as we believe, seek, and worship the Lord.
 
Yes, there can be traumatic situations when medical intervention is necessary, but we cannot and should never ignore the power of gratitude in all that we receive through the love, grace, wisdom, and mercy of God.
 
Remember, the last thing we want to do is often the first thing God wants us to do—because His thoughts and ways are higher than ours. (See Isaiah 55:8–9.) It is God’s will for us to continually give thanks for many reasons, first and foremost, to keep our heart in a posture of faith and worship. Then our soul prospers from this union we have with our Heavenly Father in Christ and our body responds to this vital connection. Jesus truly gives us everything we need for life and godliness (see 2 Peter 1:3). We just need to have faith and do our part by “keeping our bubble in the middle,” embracing wisdom in what we eat and drink; how we rest; and how we go about our daily lives.
 
If you’re facing a challenge with your health or in any area of life, and you’ve been asking “why,” be encouraged and know that God can and will help you! He wants to help you more than you may realize. If you ask Him for wisdom, He will gladly give it to you (see James 1:5). Then He will lead you through a process, making you well able to take your next step.
 
So, if you feel like you can’t do what you may have easily done in the past, don’t fret over it. God wants to show you “what” you can still do now right from where you are. He has a plan to prosper you, not to harm you. He freely offers us a hope and a future in Christ (see Jeremiah 29:11). Do you believe it? I pray you do because that means you have a thankful heart: that you are steadily growing in being grateful through it all. Your journey of healing, whatever it may be or involve, begins there.
 
Let Us Give Him Thanks Together…
Would you join me in a prayer of thanksgiving? Let us pray: “Father God, we come before You in the Name of Jesus, thanking You for Your love and goodness. We thank You for planting a seed of faith in our heart to believe You and have hope beyond what our natural eyes may see, and our body may feel, at any given moment. Thank You for freely giving us wisdom when we ask and for restoring our spirit, soul, body, and life. From Your mouth comes knowledge and understanding, so we will bow our hearts to You and give You thanks in expectation today and every day. We receive a heart of gratitude from You, Lord…in everything. By Your love and grace, we thank You that Your peace, which far exceeds our understanding, is guarding our heart and mind in Christ as we await Your perfect will both in and through us. Thank You for showing us the power of a grateful heart. Amen.”
(Refs.: Hebrews 11:1; James 1:5; Proverbs 2:1-6; 1 Thessalonians 5:18; Philippians 4:5-7)

Notes 1–4: Heal, Noonan, Kelly, Writer & Director, and Morrissey, Richelle & Schomer, Adam, Producers. Elevative Entertainment. Copyright © October 20, 2017.
 
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See the Entire “Women’s Table Talk” interview…Livestreamed from Kingdom Life Fellowship on November 18, 2024.
 
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