By: Eric Comer
I’m sure you’ve heard that phrase before. I thought it would make an appropriate title given my story to date. Some of you may have heard it, while others may not have. Let me share some of it with you and explain how I arrived at the title “Attitude of Gratitude.”
I was told by my Sunday School teacher that I was saved at a very young age, so much so that I don’t recall the specific event. While growing up, I attended Sunday School in our little village of Nixon, Ontario. As a teenager, I started attending youth groups, and we formed a small singing group that travelled to area churches. At one event, the message challenged me about the certainty of my salvation. That evening, in my room, I prayed that if I wasn’t truly saved, then, God would you please give me the assurance I needed and invited Jesus into my life, to confirm what I had been told years earlier.
When I turned 18, I joined a secular band that lasted about a year. I could share that story, but a lot happened in a short time. Suffice it to say that God allowed me to glimpse what Satan had to offer, but thankfully, He also protected me from falling too far. Don’t get me wrong – I did go down some roads I shouldn’t have, saw things I shouldn’t have, and been places I shouldn’t have. God allowed me to dip my toes in, but in His mercy and grace, He didn’t let me fall in.
At 19, I reconnected with a Christian girl, life happened, and we started a family. God was good to me; we had three kids, and I had a decent job. At 32, I started a contracting business and became heavily involved in our church. I served as an Awana commander, leader, Sunday School superintendent, teacher, youth leader, praise team member, board member, board chair… The church was an intricate part of our lives. You could say I was comfortable in my faith, comfortable with God’s goodness and faithfulness to us.
Feeling content with three saved kids – one in the mission field and the other two serving wholeheartedly in the churches God has called them to – retirement neared. We were patting ourselves on the back, thinking, “Job well done, Kathy and Eric.” Time to slow down, time to rest. But God had other plans. Two years ago, I was diagnosed with terminal stage 4 lung cancer, and the doctor gave me 2½ years. My first thoughts were, “What? Why me?” And then He reminded me that I may have wanted to be done, but He wasn’t done with me.
Most of you have heard this pun or something like it: “How do you get a horse to fit in a 2×4?” The answer is, “You can’t, but you can use the 2×4 to get his attention.”
Psalm 8:4 proclaims, “What is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?” You see, I needed to be reminded that God never stopped thinking about me. While I was beginning to put Him on the shelf and live my life for myself I was still on His mind.
Hebrews 12:1 tells us, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.”
I needed to be reminded that as long as I have air in my lungs, my purpose here is to keep my eyes on the prize, run hard, and serve Him with the gifts He has given me – like a horse with blinders.
In Psalm 46:10, He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”
I needed to be reminded that I had to profoundly trust Him and serve Him until He calls me home, because nothing else matters.
Some of us needed a 2×4 upside the head to get our attention; some of us needed to be reminded of God’s goodness and promises. God has given us all gifts and God has reminded me that He expects me
to use them until He calls me home.
In recent months, the doctors’ diagnoses have had to be adjusted because several things regarding my health have been unexplainable. I needed a reminder of God’s goodness, faithfulness, promises, hope, expectations, and more, and to be grateful for them. I needed an “Attitude of Gratitude.”
