Feeding Gratitude

Now when the people complained, it displeased the LORD; for the LORD heard it, and His anger was aroused. Numbers 11:1

My friend and I were talking the other day about how easy it is to fall into complaining, and how it makes us like the nation of Israel in the days of Moses. If God wasn’t happy with complaining then, He isn’t happy with it now. But what is the antidote for a complaining spirit? Surely it is thankfulness.

Not a memorized phrasing that we say the same way in our prayers every day. Not one day of the year that we stop to consider how God has blessed us. Not a mental acknowledgement that we should be thankful. But real, true, from-the-heart thankfulness for whatever we have, however little it may be.

Do you have a child? Then thank God for him or her a hundred times a day. Is that child healthy? Thank God a hundred more times. Are you healthy enough to get out of bed? Thank Him. Do you have heat in the winter? A fan in the summer? Running water? Thank Him. The more you have, the more you ought to be grateful.

Furthermore, the less you have, the more content you will be if you thank Him over and over, all day long for what you do have. This is one way to overcome a complaining spirit.

Another way, whether you are rich or poor, is to give. In 2 Corinthians 8, Paul wrote about the churches in Macedonia who were collecting money to share with the church in Jerusalem. Of the Macedonian Christians Paul said, “They are being tested by many troubles, and they are very poor. But they are also filled with abundant joy, which has overflowed in rich generosity,” (v. 2 NLT).

They could have complained that they were as much in need as the brethren in Judea who were enduring a famine. Yet in spite of their own “many troubles,” they were filled with a joy that made them want to give even beyond their means. They knew the challenges of poverty and, rather than focus on themselves, they had compassion on others. Just like Jesus. They also understood that the spiritual is more important than the physical. Just like Jesus.

We often give a complaining spirit room to grow when we compare ourselves to people that are more blessed than we are. They were born into a happier, more spiritual family. They have more material wealth. They have a better marriage, more beautiful children who are all faithful to God. We wonder why God didn’t bless us quite as much.

What we ought to do is find someone whom God has not blessed as much as He has blessed us. Someone born into a less-advantaged family. Someone with worse health, fewer financial resources, fewer positive family relationships. We ought to wonder why God blessed us more than He blessed that person.

It’s probably not for us to know the reason why. But it is ours to be thankful for what we have. It is ours to seek to bless others rather than focus on ourselves.

And if we do consider others who are more blessed, let it be to learn from those who are more spiritually minded, blessed with stronger faith, have greater patience in trial, more love for the lost, more joy in Christ, and more willingness to give no matter how little they may have. We can be blessed through them if we will learn to be thankful for them.

In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 1 Thessalonians 5:18

We can thank God for our blessings, or we can complain. But it’s hard to do both at the same time. Considering how God has always felt about complaining, it ought to be an easy choice.

So find something to give and someone to bless. Pour out your heart to God, but don’t feed a complaining spirit. Feed gratitude and joy by thanking God all day long.

by Christie Cole Atkins

Dear Heavenly Father, please defeat any complaining spirit within me and teach me to be truly thankful. Help me to see the needs of others and use me to bless them. I humbly thank You for all that You have done for me, especially for meeting my greatest need at great cost to Yourself, through Your Son, Jesus Christ, in whose name I offer this prayer, Amen.

Related Reading:

Our Greatest Need

The Comparison Trap