A Heart Guarded By Peace — A Life Grounded In Thankfulness

Growing up in a poor military family, life didn’t always feel like something to be thankful for. Some of my earliest memories were of packing up, moving out, moving in, starting over… again and again. Money was tight. Tension was high. And like many kids who grow up under pressure, I didn’t always get along with my parents.

There were days I felt misunderstood…

days I felt overlooked…

days I wondered why life had to be so hard…

days when gratitude was the last thing on my mind.

But looking back now, I can see something I didn’t see then:

God was providing even when I didn’t recognize it.

God was shaping me even when I didn’t appreciate it.

God was guiding me even when I didn’t agree with it.

Those humble beginnings taught me resilience.

Those strained relationships taught me grace.

Those tight seasons taught me how to depend on God.

And every hardship planted a seed of thankfulness I wouldn’t understand until years later.

Sometimes the very places we least enjoyed are the places God uses to prepare our hearts for gratitude.

And the truth is—we all have something to be thankful for:

• Family—those who helped build who we are, even if the journey was rough.

• Friends—those who stand beside us through the best and worst of life.

• The church—our spiritual family who strengthens and encourages us.

• The Bible—God’s perfect, holy Word guiding every step.

• The Holy Spirit—God Himself living inside us.

• Jesus—our Savior, Redeemer, and Friend.

• Heaven—our eternal home waiting for us.

• And blessing after blessing after blessing…

But life can still cause us to forget our gratitude.

Grief.

Stress.

Disappointment.

Family history.

Old wounds.

New battles.

And the whispers of the enemy that say, “You don’t have anything to be thankful for.”

Oh yes you do.

And yes you can.

But sometimes… we need to be reminded.

Today, let’s choose gratitude—not pretending life hasn’t been hard, not ignoring the pain of our past, but allowing the Word of God and the Spirit of God to stir up thankfulness in us again.

But life has a way of making us forget our blessings.

Bills pile up.

Hearts break.

Disappointments crush us.

Grief wounds us.

People wound us deeper.

Sometimes, in that hurt, we even choose to be unthankful—thinking it might even the score or get God’s attention.

But unthankfulness never heals anything.

It only deepens the wound.

It clouds the mind.

It hardens the heart.

So today… we are making a choice.

A choice to lean toward gratitude… to open the door of our hearts to thanksgiving… to let God reshape our thinking.

Not shallow positivity.

Not ignoring pain.

Not pretending everything is okay.

But choosing to let the Word of God and the Spirit of God transform us from the inside out.

Philippians 4:6-7

New King James Version

6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Paul is writing from a Roman prison… yet his theme is joy.

He writes to people he deeply loves—a church that supported him emotionally, spiritually, and even financially.

And woven throughout this letter—tucked between doctrine, encouragement, and exhortation—is a constant drumbeat:

Be thankful.

Stay thankful.

Live thankful.

Listen to Paul in other letters:

Philippians 1:3—“I thank my God upon every remembrance of you.”

Colossians 1:3—“We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ…”

2 Corinthians 9:15—“Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!”

1 Thessalonians 5:18—“In everything give thanks…”

Colossians 3:15—“Let the peace of God rule in your hearts… and be thankful.”

Why did Paul talk about thanksgiving so often?

Because he talked about Jesus so often.

And the Gospel always leads us to gratitude.

APPLICATION – “BECAUSE OF THE GOSPEL, WE CAN ALWAYS LIVE WITH THANKSGIVING.”

I often summarize Philippians 4:6–7 like this:

Don’t worry about anything.

Pray about everything.

Be thankful in all things.

Those three thoughts form a shield around the heart.

Life can throw us into seasons when thankfulness feels unnatural.

But when we remember the Gospel—when we remember Jesus—thanksgiving rises again.

If we live with thanksgiving, we experience three supernatural gifts:

1. GOD’S POWER FOR LIFE

“Be anxious for nothing…”

Only someone who knows Jesus understands this level of freedom.

We don’t have to fear anything because God has empowered us for everything.

Through the Holy Spirit, we have:

• Power to sustain us

• Power to comfort us

• Power to strengthen us

• Power to carry us through the darkest night

• Power to calm the storm within even if the storm outside still rages

The moment you gave your life to Christ, the Holy Spirit moved in with all the power you will ever need.