Cultivating A Grateful Heart
From Breanna Crump
I’ve really been thinking a lot about the Israelites and their wilderness journey. The whole story of the Exodus from Egypt is quite amazing. There are details within that story that are simply unbelievable and they are definitely things that have fascinated me since I was a child.
Imagine being rescued from slavery after seeing God send 10 plagues to your oppressors.
Imagine seeing a cloud to guide you by day and a pillar of fire to guide you by night as you journey toward your freedom.
Imagine seeing a sea parted in front of you, so you can cross over on dry land and then closing up around your enemy.
Imagine being thirsty and seeing water spring forth out of a rock.
Imagine being hungry and seeing food rain down from the heavens.
If you had lived through this, wouldn’t you know without a shadow of a doubt that God was looking out for you and that He loved you? Wouldn’t you be overwhelmed with a thankful heart at all the ways He had provided for you? Well, you would think so but in reality, we probably aren’t that much different from the way the Israelites responded.
You see, even after all that God had done, they still had the nerves to complain that He wasn’t doing enough! They even begged to go back to Egypt, back to their slavery! They refused to see the miraculous hand of God at work on their behalf. Their hearts were not satisfied with the provision of the Lord. Instead of living satisfied under His miraculous provision, they craved more.
We are not much different.
How many of you have said, “If I can just get that promotion… If my kids could just be a little more like… If we could afford a bigger house…. If I just had a better car… If my health was better….” The list can go on and on. We as humans are always craving more. We are always craving what is next. And we put our hope to be happier, more at peace and more secure in the possibility of seeing those cravings fulfilled.
But what if they never get fulfilled? What if God is calling you to live in the here and now and not to just live it, but to live it abundantly? What if He is calling you to be fully satisfied in Him right now and NOTHING else? What if He is trying to show you His miraculous provision and you are just overlooking it, wanting more, wanting something else other than what our GOOD FATHER is providing for you right now?
Every night when I put my son to bed, we pray through the ACTS format (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication). I highly recommend praying this way to guide your own personal prayer time and also to teach your kids if you have children.
I’m always blown away and a little tickled by the things that my son thanks God for! He has thanked him for apples, trees, sheets, baseballs, food, people, a bed, his nightlight… the list goes on and on. Of course, I think it’s cute and funny, but one night as I listened to him give thanksgiving, I was convicted. Do I stop everyday and give thanks for all the little amazing things that God gives me? The sweet crisp taste of an apple, the beautiful shade that a tree gives on a warm day, the way it feels to climb into bed after a long day and feel those cool soft sheets on your skin...we have SO much to be thankful for every single day! Including the piles of laundry that you have to fold because it means that there are lives that are being lived wearing those clothes!
I’m willing to bet, if we stopped to notice all around us and thanked God more for ALL that He has given, our hearts would be more satisfied. I’m positive that if we spent more time in an attitude of thanksgiving and actually taking the time to give thanks, we’d have a lot less time to complain. We would start LIVING in the here and now and do so with joy, rather than always looking to the next thing to bring satisfaction.
How does this impact the people around us that are not yet followers of Jesus? How does this strengthen our testimony of His love? When we see everything that is around us as a gift from God, and are overflowing with thanksgiving, people notice it! They notice that we are experiencing a love that is so fulfilling, and so satisfying, and so life-altering! They see evidence of the work of the Holy Spirit within us! And that kind of attitude is contagious!
We literally become like a sweet aroma to those around us, a breath of fresh air to a watching world rather than the stench of unsatisfied complaints.
And this is important…
Why you might wonder? Well, Israel’s dissatisfaction and lack of thankfulness cost them greatly, and we do not want to walk that road.
What was supposed to be an 11-day journey into the Promised Land turned into 40 years, and a whole generation had to die in the wilderness. They never made it to the Promised Land.
What kept them from entering? What extended their journey? A very large part of it was their ungrateful hearts, their inability to be completely satisfied in the miraculous provision of the Lord. Let us live differently than they did. Let us "give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." ... (1 Thessalonians 5:18)
Finally, I’ll leave you with this image. As this message was burning in my heart, I came across this photo on Facebook. The words written here hit me hard. I pray that you will spend the rest of the week meditating on them. Perhaps you will take the time to write them on a sticky note and post it somewhere visible in your home/workplace.
