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Date Posted: Wed, Oct 04 06
Author: Kenny B
Subject: Ungratefulness

I got the opportunity to talk with my mom yesterday. It’s not often that we get the time to engage in a lengthy telephone conversation, so whenever we do it’s of particular importance to me (especially when it’s her special day). She told me how her day went and basic other things. Somehow or another she began to tell me of a conversation she and a friend had; the conversation revolved around gifts and our attitudes towards them. I was definitely challenged by the conversation and would like to expound on this topic. Specifically, I would like to say a word about ungratefulness.

In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into the desert to starve this entire assembly to death.”…The Lord said to Moses, “I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Tell them, ‘At twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God.’ ”
(Exodus 16: 2-3, 11-12)

The passage shows us the ungratefulness of the Israelites. The context: God had just delivered them from the hands of the Egyptians, the people responsible for enslaving and mistreating them for 430 years! Yet this was not enough for the Israelites. Shortly after their deliverance (about 45 days), they felt the need to complain more, comparing their current circumstance to their days of captivity. Suggesting that it was better to be in bondage and have “pots of meat and all the food they wanted” than to be free. Not being mindful or grateful for what God had just brought them out of.

Much like the Israelites, I find we often have an attitude that’s not appreciative of the things God has done for us and allowed us to have. It’s almost like we expect these things from God, not being aware that everything we have is a gift from Him—not an obligation. And if we’re being honest, we’re never really content with what we have, are we? What we have is never enough or good enough. Never mind the things we do well, it’s about the things we can’t do like so-and-so. Never mind the friends we have, we’d rather complain about the friends we don’t have. Never mind the car we drive that gets us to the places we need and want to go, we’d rather talk about it’s insufficiencies. Never mind the fact that we’re able to go to college, we’d rather complain about having to get up too early. Never mind the fact we’re loved by God and close friends, we’d rather complain about the girlfriend/boyfriend we don’t have. Never mind the fact that we are blessed way more than we deserve; yet, we still look to God as if He owes us more.

Let’s return to the text:

The whole Israelite community set out from the Desert of Sin, traveling from place to place as the Lord commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. So they quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.” Moses replied, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you put the Lord to the test?” But the people were thirsty for water there, and they grumbled against Moses. They said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?”
(Exodus 17: 1-3)

No sooner than God had provided quail (manna) for the Israelites, again, the people began to complain. Allow me to make my point here and I’ll be done: I wonder how it makes God feel when we are unappreciative of the gifts He provides for us. I wonder if it breaks His heart.

I can recall those days in my youth when we would gather around the Christmas tree and open presents. One particular time I asked for this expensive toy and I didn’t get it. Instead, I got a lot of something else’s. I can remember how ‘sad’ I was; I even had the audacity to communicate my feelings about what I did not get. I’m sure that made my mom’s heart break, knowing she was doing all she could for me at the time, trying to make me happy and I was ungrateful. And of course, Christmas has nothing to do with presents. She had no obligation to give me presents; she did that because she loved me.

How much more so is our Heavenly Father’s heart broken when we complain about and minimize the blessings He graciously gives us? And complain. And complain. Do we ever stop to think about more than ourselves, or, is it always about us? As you wrestle around with this idea, I hope it impacts your heart as it has mine.

-KB

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