I’m not really into cooking. I don’t hate it; I just don’t much look forward to it. The reason, however, has nothing to do with the cooking itself. I actually kind of enjoy the process of preparing and creating something. It’s just that it’s too frustrating to try to spend an hour or two cooking when the kids are guaranteed to need me repeatedly during that time.
Every now and then, however, I do spend more than ten or fifteen minutes preparing dinner. Sometimes, I get the urge to make something really nice.
Once, I spent time making a new chicken dish and mashed potatoes. Everyone in my family likes chicken, so I thought this would be a sure hit. I even let the kids have straws in their drinks, which is a special treat in our family. I thought the stage was set for success.
I was wrong.
One of my children kept talking about what she would and wouldn’t eat—even after being told by Daddy to stop talking about it. Another child kept trying bites of the meal and then picking them out of her mouth when she found them unsatisfactory. One child in particular was chewing on his straw, as he likes to do. I didn’t mind, but apparently my husband did, because he said, “That’s why I don’t like giving them a straw.”
You can imagine how I felt at that point. I was frustrated and irritated—really irritated—by their ungratefulness. I was also discouraged. After all, I had gone to a lot of trouble to do something nice for them.
I wonder how God feels when we do the same thing to Him.
Every single day and moment of our lives, God puts an awesome amount of effort and creativity into preparing wonderful things for us. Sometimes, we receive His gifts well, but often, we complain.
We are a lot like the ancient Israelites, whom we usually condemn for their on-again, off-again attitudes. First, the Israelites complained (understandably so) about their slavery in Egypt. So God rescued them. Then, the complained about being hungry, saying, “Well at least in Egypt, we had food.” So God gave them manna. After awhile, they complained about that. So God gave them quail. Then they got sick of that.
They were never satisfied.
Friend, are you satisfied with what God provides for you? When He gives you a gift, do you receive it gratefully? Or do you complain, because you don’t like it…or you want to choose what parts of it you will and will not accept…or it isn’t the way you would have done it?
It’s true that sometimes, God allows things into our lives for which we’re not grateful. Sometimes, He allows tragedy and suffering. He doesn’t expect us to respond with jubilant enthusiasm to such things, and those aren’t the kinds of things I’m talking about here.
I’m talking about the things He gives us that are in no way tragedies, but to which we sometimes respond as if they are.
What if God gives you a house with fewer bedrooms than you think you need? Could you be grateful for it, or would you complain?
What if He provides not a new car, but one that’s ten years old and has a hundred thousand miles? Would you thank Him?
What if…He gives you children and a husband who aren’t perfect? What then? Will you spend more time celebrating His gifts, or complaining that they aren’t perfect?
What gifts in your life have you failed to appreciate? What have you complained about when you should have been grateful? Spend some time in prayer today. Ask God to forgive you for your attitude toward His blessings. Seek His help in changing your heart to be a grateful one. And rejoice! You have been blessed.
James 1:17—Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.