Have you ever noticed how the human heart sometimes works backwards? God keeps pouring out blessing after blessing, and instead of becoming more grateful, we quietly drift into forgetting. Not because we do not love the Lord. But simply because we have grown used to what was never meant to feel “ordinary.”
It’s one of the great ironies of life: gratitude often shrinks as blessings grow. The fuller our hands become, the easier it is to stop noticing what is in them. The more familiar the blessings are, the more invisible they become. And before we realize it, we move through our days surrounded by gifts we no longer see.
Think about the world God puts on display for us every single night. If the stars appeared only once every ten years, every street and hillside would be filled with people looking upward in breathless wonder. If the sunrise only broke across the horizon once a year, we all would wake up extra early, gather before dawn just to watch the sky catch fire. We’d be speechless.
But because God, in His kindness, gives us these miracles every day, we treat them like wallpaper. Same sky. Same sunrise. Same breath in our lungs. And without meaning to, we rush into the day with our coffee in hand and our eyes still half-asleep, forgetting to whisper that simple, important phrase: “Lord, thank You.”
Sometimes it takes hardship—real hardship—to shake us awake again.
For example, Viktor Frankl, a Holocaust survivor who endured the unimaginable in the Nazi death camp Auschwitz, wrote about this years later in his book Man’s Search for Meaning. In those brutal conditions, surrounded by starvation, freezing conditions, and cruelty, he noticed something remarkable: the dreams of the prisoners were not filled with fantasies of wealth or luxury. They dreamed of breads, cakes, a warm bath, and more—things we don’t even pause to really thank God for.
Frankl realized that suffering in the worst conditions had sharpened his sight. It stripped away the noise and helped him recognize the value of the very things most people rush past. What once seemed small became priceless.
It’s interesting, isn’t it?
Those who have the least sometimes see the most. Those with the most can go blind to what is right in front of them.
But God does not leave us in that backward pattern. When He saves a person, He gently re-teaches the heart how to see with thanksgiving. Little by little, He wakes us up again to blessings that were always there but had faded into the back of our minds. A quiet morning. A warm meal. A message from a friend. A Bible we can open anytime. The simple gift of breathing.
God gives us new mercies to thank Him for each day. They are renewed every single sunrise, even the sunrise we stopped noticing long ago.
Gratitude matters deeply to God, not because He needs our thankfulness, but because we do. Gratitude softens our hearts. It slows us to a good speed. It calms the anxious places inside. It reminds us that nothing in our lives is random—life is provided. We are cared for. We are loved by a God who gives intentionally.
Every good gift—large or small—has His fingerprints on it. And when we practice gratitude—genuine, intentional thanksgiving—we begin to live awake again. We begin to see God not just in the spectacular moments but also in the simple ones.
So, this Thanksgiving, make time to pause long enough to notice what you have stopped noticing. Let your heart wake up. Look around at the blessings that have blended into the scenery of your life. Ask the Lord to restore that childlike wonder, that fresh-eyed gratitude that makes even simple things shine again. Because gratitude doesn’t grow from having more—it grows out of seeing more. And when God opens our eyes, even the smallest blessings shine like miracles.
RETURN TO ALL BLOGS
It’s one of the great ironies of life: gratitude often shrinks as blessings grow. The fuller our hands become, the easier it is to stop noticing what is in them. The more familiar the blessings are, the more invisible they become. And before we realize it, we move through our days surrounded by gifts we no longer see.
Think about the world God puts on display for us every single night. If the stars appeared only once every ten years, every street and hillside would be filled with people looking upward in breathless wonder. If the sunrise only broke across the horizon once a year, we all would wake up extra early, gather before dawn just to watch the sky catch fire. We’d be speechless.
But because God, in His kindness, gives us these miracles every day, we treat them like wallpaper. Same sky. Same sunrise. Same breath in our lungs. And without meaning to, we rush into the day with our coffee in hand and our eyes still half-asleep, forgetting to whisper that simple, important phrase: “Lord, thank You.”
Sometimes it takes hardship—real hardship—to shake us awake again.
For example, Viktor Frankl, a Holocaust survivor who endured the unimaginable in the Nazi death camp Auschwitz, wrote about this years later in his book Man’s Search for Meaning. In those brutal conditions, surrounded by starvation, freezing conditions, and cruelty, he noticed something remarkable: the dreams of the prisoners were not filled with fantasies of wealth or luxury. They dreamed of breads, cakes, a warm bath, and more—things we don’t even pause to really thank God for.
Frankl realized that suffering in the worst conditions had sharpened his sight. It stripped away the noise and helped him recognize the value of the very things most people rush past. What once seemed small became priceless.
It’s interesting, isn’t it?
Those who have the least sometimes see the most. Those with the most can go blind to what is right in front of them.
But God does not leave us in that backward pattern. When He saves a person, He gently re-teaches the heart how to see with thanksgiving. Little by little, He wakes us up again to blessings that were always there but had faded into the back of our minds. A quiet morning. A warm meal. A message from a friend. A Bible we can open anytime. The simple gift of breathing.
God gives us new mercies to thank Him for each day. They are renewed every single sunrise, even the sunrise we stopped noticing long ago.
Gratitude matters deeply to God, not because He needs our thankfulness, but because we do. Gratitude softens our hearts. It slows us to a good speed. It calms the anxious places inside. It reminds us that nothing in our lives is random—life is provided. We are cared for. We are loved by a God who gives intentionally.
Every good gift—large or small—has His fingerprints on it. And when we practice gratitude—genuine, intentional thanksgiving—we begin to live awake again. We begin to see God not just in the spectacular moments but also in the simple ones.
So, this Thanksgiving, make time to pause long enough to notice what you have stopped noticing. Let your heart wake up. Look around at the blessings that have blended into the scenery of your life. Ask the Lord to restore that childlike wonder, that fresh-eyed gratitude that makes even simple things shine again. Because gratitude doesn’t grow from having more—it grows out of seeing more. And when God opens our eyes, even the smallest blessings shine like miracles.
RETURN TO ALL BLOGS
