There’s a line in Hosea today that feels like it could have been written for our own moment: “Your love is like a morning cloud, like the dew that goes away early.” It’s a poetic way of saying: You start strong, but you fade fast. Your devotion evaporates. Your gratitude dries up. Your trust disappears when the heat of the day rises.

And if we’re honest, that’s not just ancient Israel’s story. It’s ours too.

We begin with good intentions. We want to pray more. We want to trust more. We want to live gratefully. We want to follow Jesus with our whole hearts. But then life happens. Stress happens. Fear happens. Disappointment happens. And our love – our gratitude – can evaporate like morning dew.

Yet into that very human pattern, God speaks a word of mercy: “I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.” God is not looking for perfect performance. God is looking for relationship. God is looking for hearts that turn toward him again and again, even after they’ve wandered.

And that brings us back to our theme for this year: “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” Not “give thanks for all circumstances.” But “in all circumstances.” In the mess. In the uncertainty. In the waiting. In the places where our love feels thin and our faith feels tired.

Gratitude is not a feeling we wait for. Gratitude is a posture we choose.

Hosea shows us a God who is not impressed by religious showmanship. God is not moved by sacrifices offered with empty hearts. God wants love that lasts longer than the morning dew. And gratitude—real gratitude—is one of the ways we keep our love from evaporating.

Gratitude roots us. Gratitude steadies us. Gratitude keeps us close to the heart of God.

Psalm 50 reminds us that God is not hungry for offerings. God is not waiting for us to impress him. God says, “The world is mine and all that is in it.” What God wants is trust. “Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you.”

Gratitude and trust are siblings. You cannot have one without the other. To give thanks in all circumstances is to say: “God, I trust you—even here. Even now.”

Paul gives us Abraham as the great example of trust. Abraham believed God’s promise even when the evidence was thin. Even when the circumstances were impossible. Even when he and Sarah were far too old for the future God promised. Paul says Abraham “grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God.”

Did you hear that? His faith grew as he gave thanks. Gratitude strengthened his trust. Gratitude expanded his hope. Gratitude made room for God to work. Because gratitude is not what we do after God acts. Gratitude is what prepares us to see God act.

And then we come to Matthew’s gospel, where Jesus walks straight into the messiest places of human life. He calls Matthew, a tax collector… someone everyone else had written off. He sits at a table with sinners, people the religious world avoided. He heals a woman who has suffered for twelve years. He raises a girl from death.

Every one of these stories is a story of God’s mercy breaking into ordinary, complicated, painful circumstances. And Jesus says, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.”

Mercy is gratitude turned outward. Mercy is what happens when we realize how deeply we’ve been loved. Mercy is the fruit of a grateful heart.

And notice something else: Every person Jesus encounters in this passage comes to him with a mixture of faith and desperation. None of them have perfect belief. None of them have perfect lives. None of them have perfect theology. But they come. And Jesus meets them with compassion.

Gratitude begins right there, right in the coming. In the turning. In the reaching out. In the willingness to trust that Jesus meets us in our real lives, not our ideal ones.

So what does it mean to “give thanks in all circumstances” in light of these readings? It means:

1. Gratitude is not denial. Hosea, the Psalmist, Paul, and Matthew all show us people who are hurting, confused, or afraid. Gratitude doesn’t pretend everything is fine. Gratitude says, “God is with me even when everything is not fine.”

2. Gratitude is not performance. God doesn’t want sacrifices without love. God wants hearts that turn toward him.

3. Gratitude is trust. Like Abraham, we give thanks not because we see the whole picture, but because we trust the One who holds the picture.

4. Gratitude opens us to mercy. When we know how deeply we’ve been loved, we become people who extend that love to others.

5. Gratitude is a spiritual practice. It’s something we choose, again and again, until it becomes the rhythm of our lives.

So today, as we continue this season after Pentecost, as we continue this year of practicing gratitude, hear the invitation of Scripture: Turn toward God. Call upon God. Trust God. Walk with Jesus into the messy places. Let gratitude steady your heart. Let gratitude shape your faith. Let gratitude open you to mercy.

One way we can do this is by following “the Three Touchpoints” practice. Choose three moments that happen every day no matter what. For example: when you turn on a light, when you wash your hands, when you sit down to eat, when you unlock your phone, when you put on your shoes. And at each touchpoint, whisper: “Thank you, God, for being with me right now.” This anchors gratitude in the real flow of life.

And in all circumstances— in joy and in sorrow, in clarity and in confusion, in strength and in weakness— give thanks. Next Sunday, I invite you to bring one sentence: “This week, I gave thanks in…” It can be joyful, ordinary, or difficult. The point is not perfection—it’s practice.

Give thanks not because life is perfect. But because God’s love is steadfast. Because Jesus meets us where we are. Because the Spirit breathes hope into our lungs. Because gratitude keeps our hearts from evaporating like morning dew.

“Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” Amen.