“Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior” (Habakkuk 3:17-18, NIV).

He had stopped his cancer treatment one year ago when his wife died but resumed it recently with new symptoms. The medicine was working but causing him severe fatigue. As soon as he had complained about it, he paused and followed with, “Sometimes I think I’m just not grateful enough, though I actually find myself more grateful now than before the cancer. Every day, I wake up and thank God for the day. I never used to do that.”

This reminds me of a sweet Christian patient who was in severe pain near the end of her life. She woke up from a coma, sat up and said, “Thank you, Lord.” When her family asked her what she was thanking God for, she replied, “Everything He has done for me.”

What does it take to be grateful?

It’s easy to be grateful intermittently when good events happen, like when I was hydroplaning this week in a storm, headed for the guardrails, and then spun safely out of the slide. It was easy to say, “Thank you, Lord.”

Gratitude is easy when our kids achieve, or we get the raise, or that serious illness resolves, or the malpractice suit is dropped. These blessings draw from us an event gratitude, and they should. We should praise and thank God whenever He steps into our lives with a new blessing.

My patients above go beyond that, though. They had no event to thank God for. Their thankfulness went beyond event gratitude to foundational gratitude.

Event gratitude says, “Thank you, God, for intervening with your love and power when I needed you for this concern.”

Foundational gratitude says, “I am not alone; I am loved; I am secure; I am saved from myself; my death is but a doorway. Whatever events I experience in life, my Christ is always with me. Whatever events are impacting my life, I am safe in the arms of God.”

Event gratitude leads to happiness. Foundational gratitude leads to joy. I need to express both to the God who provides, but the latter should be the rock on which I stand.

Dear God,

Let me continually thank you with my heart, my lips and my actions.

Amen