In thinking about the seven dwarfs, I can personally relate to, or know someone who resembles, each one of them. I bet you can too. Maybe even a combo-deal…a pile up of more than one.

You’ve got:

Happy
Grumpy
Bashful
Sneezy
Sleepy
Doc

 
 
 
 
And Dopey, to choose from.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
What if there was an eighth dwarf? Let’s call him, Thankful. How would we measure up with this guy?
 
 

 
 
 
 
I’ll be honest, it’s easier to be Grumpy.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
If you look for things to be mad about, you’re sure to find them. With that kind of a success rate, you should be feeling almost Happy, right?

Growing up, I was in a lot of plays at my church. In one of our performances, the chorus of a song went something like this:

Are you humbly grateful or grumbly hateful – what’s your attitude?
Do you grumble and groan, or let it be known you’re grateful for all God’s done for you?

Sometimes being thankful is difficult. We don’t feel like it. Life gets in the way and we succumb to our human emotions. God knows this can be a challenge for us, so much so that the Bible even refers to being thankful as a sacrifice:

The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me;
to one who orders his way rightly
I will show the salvation of God!
Psalm 50:23

In checking in with our spiritual barometer, it’s in the times when we are feeling the least thankful that we may need to cultivate it the most. We are asked to be thankful in all circumstances. It’s during these times, giving thanks in the middle of our hurt, where it becomes an obedient response to God. The more we “practice” our thankfulness, the more natural it starts to feel.

Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
1 Thessalonians 5:18

Being thankful is a choice. It isn’t always polished and pretty. It’s not convenient. Most of the time, the things that we should be the most thankful for are worn and dented. The car with the ridiculously high odometer reading that starts in the morning to get us to work. The home we live in that can seem like a burden of cracks and leaks. The family we may be taking for granted.

Being thankful comes in different forms. Learning to be thankful is so much better for us than when it takes the form of regret, with the realization of all you had when it’s too late. You know the saying, “Don’t know what you’ve got, ‘til it’s gone!”

So there you have it. We’ve all been Sneezy, Sleepy, Grumpy, and even Dopey. Sometimes we’re Happy, sometimes Bashful. We’d like to be Doc, from time to time, fixing our ailments. But what about Thankful? God would just love for us to be more like him!