Psalm 145:13
“The Lord is faithful to all his promises and loving towards all he has made. The Lord upholds all those who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down. The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food at the proper time. You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing. The Lord is righteous in all his ways and loving towards all he has made.”
Human beings have a natural tendency to look on the negative and to complain and grumble. It’s all too easy to focus on what we don’t have and on what we wish we had. Living in a materialistic society, we’re bombarded with adverts telling us what we really need and can’t live without. The news and social media also fill our minds with negative and often distressing ideas and events. We’ve been experiencing many restrictions on our way of life and our freedoms, and there’s so much we’ve lost and are missing. This has led to isolation for so many and increased mental ill health as a result. As Christians, we can be caught up in a negative mindset too and to counteract that we need to meditate on who God is, as in Psalm 145 above.
Research demonstrates that focusing on what we are grateful for is a universally rewarding way to feel happier and more fulfilled. Gratitude is perhaps the most important key to finding success and happiness in the modern day. And that’s in tune with the Word of God. Being grateful is not just good spiritual practice, but is essential for our mental health.
There’s a song that we used to sing in Sunday School as children, “Count your blessings, name them one by one and it will surprise you what the Lord has done.” I didn’t appreciate the sentiment at the time, but I now understand the wisdom of those words. If we suffer from anxiety or depression, one way to cope with those feelings, is to focus on the good and the positive: one idea is that before you go to sleep, write down three things you can be grateful for in that day. Keep on doing that every night for a few weeks, and you will find that being grateful will become a new habit and that you are happier.