Filled with gratitude (and less grumbling)

I don't want to go to work today. I am so hungry and the JustEat app is taking aaaaages to load. The bus is late, I could be there by now. The weather is awful! How much do we complain in life or simply grumble when something is not as straight forward as we'd like? Sometimes, we don't even realise we are doing it. Let's be honest, we all do it.

In the Old Testament, we learn just how much God hates complaining. Even Moses grumbled while leading the Children of Israel through the wilderness. Numbers 11:10-15 says, "Moses heard the people, family after family, crying at the entrance of their tents. The Lord was very angry; Moses was also provoked. So Moses asked the Lord, "Why have You brought such trouble on Your servant? Why are You angry with me, and why do You burden me with all these people? Did I conceive all these people? Did I give them birth so You should tell me, 'Carry them at your breast, as a nursing woman carries a baby,' to the land that You swore to [give] their fathers? Where can I get meat to give all these people? For they are crying to me: 'Give us meat to eat! I can't carry all these people by myself. They are too much for me. If You are going to treat me like this, please kill me right now. If You are pleased with me, don't let me see my misery [any more]."

Numbers 11:1 says that "...the people began complaining openly before the Lord about hardship. When the Lord heard, His anger burned, and the fire from the Lord blazed among them and consumed the outskirts of the camp." In both of these scriptures, we learn how much God hates complaining by his reactions. He becomes angry and He caused fire to come down. It seems that complaining can come across as negative to the Lord and something that shows that we are ungrateful. The Lord had previously rescued these people from 400 years of slavery and was bringing them to a land that they could finally call their home and they were grumbling as if they had forgotten what He had done for them and where He was about to bring them to. We've all been there right?

The consequences of their sin and complaining is clear through Numbers 14:27-29, "How long must I endure this evil community that keeps complaining about Me? I have heard the Israelites' complaints that they make against Me. Tell them: As surely as I live, declares the Lord, I will do to you exactly as I heard you say. Your corpses will fall in this wilderness-all of you who were registered [in the census], the entire number of you 20 years old or more-because you have complained about Me."

When we grumble we forget what God has done for us and what he Has promised. This shows a lack of faith because God knows exactly what we need and when those things are going to come. He knows our thoughts and our hearts and hears every single one of our cries. Instead of grumbling while waiting or going through testing times, we need to learn to be patient in these moments and strengthen our faith through prayer. Or even meditating on the Lord's goodness from the past to remind ourselves that He did it once and He sure will do it again. He is a God who keeps His promises. He is not a man that He should lie. Gratitude changes your mindset on any and every situation. it ignites your faith and creates hope to get you through.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 encourages us with, "Rejoice always, pray constantly, give thanks in everything; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus." This is exactly what God wants us to do. Amen. Be thankful.

Now, how do we make all of this practical in our lives? Well I can guarantee you're already complaining about going back to work on 'Monday.' What's Monday ever done to us? Turn it around and say "I get to work today. I can share the glory of the Lord with my coworkers and this is another day that the Lord has made."

It creates a feeling of joy. Joy is not the same as happiness as it isn't based on situations but on Someone who never changes; Jesus Christ. We have joy when we trust in His word and speak it over our lives instead of grumbling and focusing on what's not going so great. This is how we practically live gratitude out in our day. Joy is also a fruit of the spirit.

Start today by thanking God for something. It can be small or it can be big. Continue this conversation throughout the day and watch how your day changes. Try carrying this on throughout the week. More gratitude less grumbling.