Keion Henderson - Grateful In The Grind

God says to be grateful. Grateful in the grind-that’s what we want to talk about today: being grateful in the grind. You may be seated in the presence of the Lord. Y’all ready for this word? I’m going to give you two stories, and I want you to identify which one you fit into, and I want you to be honest. This is an open book test, but I want you to be truthful, okay? I’m going to tell you two stories, and I want you to tell me which person you are.

Person A: I had a friend who called me; he’s a well-known, well-established businessman. He called me one day, and just a couple of days ago, he started asking me, «So, what do you think about the election?» I told him my opinion, and he asked, «What do you think about all of the cabinet selections and the difficulties that they’re saying some of these guys and ladies will have in the confirmation period?» I gave him my thoughts, and then it got personal. He said, «Yeah,» and he calls me «Preach.» He said, «Preacher, I need you to pray for my mother.» I said, «Okay.» He said, «You know my mom’s 84 years old, and I have to fly out to take care of her.» Immediately, I started to feel bad. When someone tells you that their 84-year-old mother is doing poorly and they have to see her, you can only think of the worst. I’m going to be honest with you; I immediately thought the worst. He said, " I have to go down there, and I’ll be back on Friday.» I said, «Yes, sir.» I asked, «Is there anything I can do to help?» He said, «No, but if there is, I’ll let you know.» I asked, «Who 's down there taking care of her when you’re here?» He said, «Oh, she lives by herself .» I said, «Oh, okay. How is she getting back and forth to the doctor’s appointments?» He said, «She drives herself, and she’s in Vegas right now on a trip with friends.» I thought, «Hold up, dog! You got me praying for a woman who 's at the slot machines right now at 84 and still drives herself!» But he’s the kind of person who, no matter how good things are, always sees the negative.

Meanwhile, I have a friend named Kevin who lives here in the city. He 's got one of the largest State Farm insurance companies in Texas and is in the top 1% of financial planners in the United States. Meanwhile, his son has been in the hospital for four months, and I’ve been praying for him daily because his son contracted a rare form of cancer and needed a bone marrow transplant-we’re talking about a teenage son, by the way. They believed it wouldn 't look good and that he might not come out alright because, even though they knew what to do, they didn’t have a donor for the marrow. Only to find out that after an exhaustive search, the sister who slept in the bedroom next to him was a 100% match. At no point in four months of praying for his son did Kevin ever express anything negative. He’s my insurance agent, and every time I would call him on the phone, he would say these words like clockwork. If I called him right now and put him on speakerphone, he would answer the phone this way: «Hey, sir, how may I serve you?» No matter what’s going on in Kevin’s life, he is always grateful.

You might mistake thinking that because people are happy, the situation is filled with joy. Now, here is the open book test: How many of you fit in Kevin’s group, and how many of you fit in my other friend’s group, seeing negativity even in the face of positivity? When Kevin said to me, I prayed for him. When he said it, I think it was November 13th, if I have the date correct. We were praying, and he said, «Man, I want you to pray for my son. He 's been in the hospital for four months. I think we’re going to get out of here in 30 days,» and I started to pray. I said, «The devil is a liar,» and we began to call his son’s name in prayer. His son got on the phone and started to tell me how his taste buds had disappeared, how he had lost all functionality in his GI tract, and how much he had gone through-this is a teenager speaking about his condition. But God is good! Thirty days out would be December 14th, but I called him back on the 15th, and he said, «Guess who just got discharged?» He sent me a video of his son ringing the bell, telling cancer to go to hell where it belongs. The only conclusion I could draw between the two is that both were going through hell and high water, but one of them chose to be grateful.

Everybody, just say to yourself, «Be grateful. Be grateful.» Can I tell you something? This is what I learned, and I need your attention today because what I’m going to teach you perhaps you’ve never heard in your life. I never knew that gratefulness and…