One of my favorite stories in the Bible is that of Hannah, Samuel’s mom (see I Samuel 1:1—2:10). Her gratitude for giving birth to Samuel after having been unable to have children has always been a reminder to me of what genuine and earnest gratitude looks like. 

Hannah doesn’t just say, “Thank you, God, for giving me a child” and move on. She instead goes on to give a long poem of deep gratitude that goes well beyond her difficulty. She praises God for His infinite love, mercy, and care for those in need and for the destruction of evil. She says, “There is none holy as the Lord: for there is none beside thee: neither is there any rock like our God.” To me, it seems that her healing and gratitude gave her a much deeper understanding of God. She realized that this wasn’t just about her but about God’s ever-presence and His all-power over everything around her.

I see Hannah’s obedience and gratitude as ways of serving God. It can be easy to think of serving God as needing to be a giant gesture or sacrifice, but I feel this is a very limited way of thinking about it. Gratitude is acknowledging that God is present and evident in our lives, and this is an effective way to serve Him. While gratitude, which the Bible often calls thanksgiving, can sometimes feel like a small act, it is actually a powerful affirmation that God exists and is almighty.