How Gratitude Can Transform Life’s Challenges

What would you do if you got robbed at gunpoint? Now, I'm not suggesting that you look forward to that, but I also want to remind all of us that sometimes bad things happen to good people. Do you know how to respond correctly when something bad happens to you? Well, today on this podcast, you're going to find out exactly what to do if something bad ever happens to you.

Welcome to becoming wiser with Dr. Robert A. Rome, author and worldview renowned public speaker, as he shares stories involving his experiences and lessons learned in a good, spirited, positive and fun way. Here's Dr. Robert A. Rohm.

Hi, I'm Dr. Robert Rohm, and today I want to be positive about reality. The reality is sometimes things in life are not fair. Sometimes we get the short end of the stick. Sometimes things happen to us. We weren't expecting it to happen. We were in the wrong place at the wrong time and maybe with the wrong people. Yet even when something bad happens, is there a possibility that something good could come from it? Is there a possibility that we could be thankful and grateful for every situation that takes place in our life? Let me remind you before I tell you this story once again. I am not talking about looking for trouble. I am not talking about tempting fate. I am not talking about being foolish or at worst, being stupid. But sometimes bad things happen to good people. Now, I know if you're listening to this, you would fall in the category of being a good person, because those are the people we're trying to encourage, help, and teach how to have wisdom. This is called Becoming Wiser. Our podcast is all about becoming wiser. So I want to bend the envelope a little bit in a different direction here and tell you a story that happened many, many years ago. As most of you know, here in the United States, we're celebrating Thanksgiving this week. And I realize that this tip goes to many countries where Thanksgiving is celebrated maybe at different times. Regardless of where you live and when you celebrate it, Thanksgiving is a good time to remember to be thankful and grateful for everything that you have in life. I've often been reminded that success in life has everything to do with the attitude of gratitude. Man, that's such a great way to remember that, isn't it? The most important attitude you can have is an attitude of gratitude. When a person has a good attitude and a grateful heart, it seems to open doors of opportunity for them. It's like the law of attraction. Those doors would never be opened otherwise without their attitude of gratitude. Not many people who are bitter and ungrateful have prospered very much in their life. Years ago, I heard the story of an Englishman by the name of Matthew Henry. He was a preacher and well known Bible scholar who lived from 1662 to 1714. His Exposition of the Old and New Testaments of Commentary, that's still in print to this very day. I have a copy. He was known for his practical application combined with a well sustained flow of English literature. Perhaps that's what made the Commentary one of the best works of its kind. Well, anyway, one day, Matthew Henry was riding his horse through the woods in England. He was on his way to a church meeting where he was going to be the guest speaker. Suddenly, a masked bandit ran out of the woods with a gun in his hand and demanded that Matthew Henry get off his horse. Mr. Henry obeyed the robber. He knew it was a dangerous situation. Even though he tried to talk to the man about God and spiritual matters, the bandit would hear none of it. He quickly took all of Matthew Henry's money and ran back into the woods. It all happened so quickly that Matthew Henry hardly had time to realize what had happened. Although he was now penniless, he got back on his horse and continued on his journey to the meeting where he was going to be the guest speaker that night. His mind took him to the thought, and that's what this is about, so listen carefully. His mind took him to the thought that we're supposed to give thanks in everything that happens to us in life. You see, friends, many times things don't happen to you, they happen for you. Well, Mr. Henry asked God, how am I supposed to be thankful for being robbed? That's a great question. And how am I supposed to be thankful for not making the team? How am I supposed to be thankful for the difficult situation I'm going through in my marriage or with my children, or with my parents, or with my finances or with my health? Well, as he continued on his way, the answer came to him that night. He told the story to the audience about what had happened to him earlier that day. He concluded his message by sharing the reason he could be thankful for what had happened to him that very day. First, he said, I am thankful I have never been robbed before. Second, I am thankful that the thief took my money and not my life. Third, I'm thankful he did not take more. He could have taken my horse and my clothes as well. Next, I'm thankful that what I had stolen from me really did not amount to that much. Next he said, I'm grateful that what I lost in time could be replaced and here's the punchline, he said, but finally, and most importantly of all, I'm thankful I was the one robbed and not the robber. Now, when I heard that story years ago, it just touched my heart. Here's why. Isn't that a fantastic attitude of thankfulness and gratitude? I remember reading that story thinking to myself, I want to be that kind of person. Not that I want to put myself in harm's way and constantly have bad things happen to me. Not that I'm being foolish or tempting fate or just being stupid, but I want to be the kind of person that looks for the good, the pure and the positive in everything that happens in my life. Thinking about that happened for me, it didn't happen to me. If I believe that my life was just a string of meaningless, random events that haphazardly happened to me, I think I would live in a constant state of depression. I mean, think about it. All of us have things that happen to us. Well, if you just are living by luck rather than by purpose, you're probably going to be depressed a lot because nobody gets their way all the time. I firmly believe that my life has a way of understanding and that life has a way of teaching me what it wants me to know. If I'll just simply look for ways to have a grateful heart and be thankful, if I do that, then I'll find them, just as Matthew Henry did so long ago. Again, as I've said before, it's an attitude of gratitude that always carries the day. So during this time of Thanksgiving, let me encourage you to look at even the most difficult, heartbreaking, gut wrenching situations that you may be facing right now and look for ways that you can be grateful for what has taken place in your life. Winston Churchill said, if you're going through hell, keep going. I would encourage you to recognize that the situations that are happening in your life will not last forever. During the darkest moments of our life, there's still good that can be found. Last time I was in Israel, our God, his name was Moshe. He told us that the Holocaust, you know, that where 6 million Jews were murdered. He said the Holocaust was a terrible thing, yet out of it was born the nation of Israel. He said, without the Holocaust, we never would have had a homeland and a nation for our people. It was after World War II and after the Holocaust that Moshe, Diane and many of the Jewish leaders, Ben Gurion and the modern day leadership at the time in the 40s, led their people to have a nation. And Israel became a nation again. It's the attitude I'm talking about, I cannot completely control what happens to me, but I can control how I respond to it. Please hear me well one more time. Don't look for trouble. Trouble finds all of us from time to time. But look how to respond to those things. I believe life's about 10% what happens to us and about 90% how we respond to it. Going back to Israel, I don't know if you've heard this or not. Goldie Meyer. She was the first female prime Minister of Israel back in the days of Ben Gurion, Moshe, Diane, and all the leaders that made Israel become a nation. She said something that I thought was very interesting. She said, I came to New York and I had $50 in my pocket. It's not a whole lot of money to go to New York, is it? It was in early 1948. She met with some Jewish leaders and she said, israel can become a nation and our people can have a homeland. She went home 30 days later with $50 million and was able to purchase the necessary equipment that Israel could defend itself and become a nation. A nation that was born in a day after hundreds of years of being scattered all over the world. Now, I don't know about you, but I've discovered that having a thankful heart really is the basis for everything good that happens in my life. And it opened doors of opportunity for me that I never could imagine. I think my attitude of gratitude and kindness and thankfulness has opened up incredible opportunities for me because whatever happens, I choose to say thank you and look for the good, the pure, and the positive. So I want to encourage you this Thanksgiving. Have a thankful heart. I promise you it will open doors of opportunity for you as well. Just remember, there is always something for which you can be thankful. I'm Dr. Robert Rome. I'm going to cut the podcast a little bit short this time because I know everybody's busy for Thanksgiving and we want you to know that we love you, we're thankful for you, you who are our listening audience. We're literally. I'm still learning how to do podcasts and we have hundreds of thousands of downloads. So share this message with someone, maybe someone who's going through a hard time, and let them know you are thinking about them and you believe in them. And in time, things will turn around. And even something as difficult as what Matthew Henry faced by being robbed, he found ways to look for the good, the pure, and the positive that helped him to overcome it. I hope you have a great Thanksgiving with your family. I hope your health, your finances, your relationships continue to grow. Be a person of thankfulness. Be a person with an attitude of gratitude. If you had to ask me, and I'm going to wrap it up with this, if you had to ask me, what are the two keys to life, I would say very simply, number one, acceptance. Accept what happens to you because things don't happen to you, they happen for you. So after you accept them, they the second thing is have an attitude of gratitude. Look for ways to be grateful for what has happened in your life. Accept it and be grateful for it and learn from it and do better in the days ahead. Happy Thanksgiving. I hope you're becoming wiser by listening to these podcasts. God bless you. I look forward to talking to you again real soon. Happy Thanksgiving. Bye bye.

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