This past week I took a trip with my family to the Bahamas, my ENTIRE family…wife, 3 kids, and even my mother-in-law. It was a FANTASTIC trip! It was 8 days of simply spending time with one another, laughing with one another, getting to know one another…being reminded of how much we love and appreciate one another. While away I was reminded of all the things that I seem to take for granted, the things that I don’t acknowledge ENOUGH in my life, people that matter. While away I was reminded of the importance of GRATITUDE. Funny isn’t it? God was gracious enough to give us this trip, to take us to an island paradise, only to remind me of how much I miss things BACK HOME. Crazy, right?
How often do you sit in your office or maybe your favorite spot on the couch at home and dream about the places you’d like to visit, the people you’d like to meet, the things you’d like to have...basically EVERYWHERE, EVERYONE, and EVERYTHING you don’t have?
I believe many of us, if not ALL of us, do this from time to time (some more than others). We focus more on what COULD have been or what we believe SHOULD have been and, in some cases, what WILL be. We do this, whether intentional or unintentional, and miss out on what we DO have. We miss out on what IS. Our hearts, our minds, our very souls become entangled in a mess of ungratefulness.
I’m currently reading through the book of Numbers…
Look, sometimes we think the Old Testament was written for OTHER people, we cling to and claim the New Testament and leave the Old because of the genealogies and difficult names and instructions for things that seem to no longer be pertinent, BUT, I’d like to encourage you to pick up your Bible and start reading the Old Testament. It’s a GREAT reminder of how much God loves us, how vast His grace and mercy extends, and, most importantly, it all points to Jesus…
Ok, so back to the book of Numbers. God rescues the Israelites. He saves His people. He leads and guides them with His PHYSICAL PRESENCE, like these people SAW God moving (pillar of cloud, pillar of fire). God was taking the Israelites to a land flowing with milk and honey. He was TAKING them, as in they weren’t there yet. The people grew dissatisfied with their current conditions and situation. The people wanted to go back into SLAVERY instead of move forward to GOD’S BLESSING. Read this:
So all the congregation lifted up their voices and cried, and the people wept that night. And all the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron, and the whole congregation said to them, If only we had died in the land of Egypt! Or if only we had died in this wilderness! Why has the Lord brought us to this land to fall by the sword, that our wives and children should become victims? Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?
Numbers 14:1-3 NKJV
The Israelites had become so focused on what they DIDN’T HAVE they completely missed out on what they DID HAVE. God SAVED them! I’m not even talking about redemption, like one day you’ll be in heaven with Jesus, but God SAVED them from 400 years of slavery. He was living AMONGST them! I don’t mean like my body is the temple and the Holy Spirit lives in me, but He was PHYSICALLY with them, leading them, guiding them.
BUT…
Maybe it’s just me. Maybe I’m the only one. God has given me so much, yet I consistently respond with BUT… but WHAT?!? Like the Israelites, God saved me, He rescued me from a life of slavery—slavery to drugs, slavery to alcohol, slavery to porn, slavery to resentment, slavery to being a victim. He rescued me from the life of slavery, He’s taking me somewhere, He’s got a plan for my life, and I respond with BUT because my focus is on what I DON’T HAVE, not what I DO HAVE. God help me.
NO MORE BUTS!
Today, I’m choosing to fill my life with THANK YOU! Thank you for reminding me that you want to lead me THROUGH my struggles, not take me OUT of them. Thank you for calling me Your son in spite of my ungrateful heart. Thank you for loving me enough to remind me of WHO You are and WHAT You’ve done, when I need it the most.
Thank you.
How often do you sit in your office or maybe your favorite spot on the couch at home and dream about the places you’d like to visit, the people you’d like to meet, the things you’d like to have...basically EVERYWHERE, EVERYONE, and EVERYTHING you don’t have?
I believe many of us, if not ALL of us, do this from time to time (some more than others). We focus more on what COULD have been or what we believe SHOULD have been and, in some cases, what WILL be. We do this, whether intentional or unintentional, and miss out on what we DO have. We miss out on what IS. Our hearts, our minds, our very souls become entangled in a mess of ungratefulness.
I’m currently reading through the book of Numbers…
Look, sometimes we think the Old Testament was written for OTHER people, we cling to and claim the New Testament and leave the Old because of the genealogies and difficult names and instructions for things that seem to no longer be pertinent, BUT, I’d like to encourage you to pick up your Bible and start reading the Old Testament. It’s a GREAT reminder of how much God loves us, how vast His grace and mercy extends, and, most importantly, it all points to Jesus…
Ok, so back to the book of Numbers. God rescues the Israelites. He saves His people. He leads and guides them with His PHYSICAL PRESENCE, like these people SAW God moving (pillar of cloud, pillar of fire). God was taking the Israelites to a land flowing with milk and honey. He was TAKING them, as in they weren’t there yet. The people grew dissatisfied with their current conditions and situation. The people wanted to go back into SLAVERY instead of move forward to GOD’S BLESSING. Read this:
So all the congregation lifted up their voices and cried, and the people wept that night. And all the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron, and the whole congregation said to them, If only we had died in the land of Egypt! Or if only we had died in this wilderness! Why has the Lord brought us to this land to fall by the sword, that our wives and children should become victims? Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?
Numbers 14:1-3 NKJV
The Israelites had become so focused on what they DIDN’T HAVE they completely missed out on what they DID HAVE. God SAVED them! I’m not even talking about redemption, like one day you’ll be in heaven with Jesus, but God SAVED them from 400 years of slavery. He was living AMONGST them! I don’t mean like my body is the temple and the Holy Spirit lives in me, but He was PHYSICALLY with them, leading them, guiding them.
BUT…
Maybe it’s just me. Maybe I’m the only one. God has given me so much, yet I consistently respond with BUT… but WHAT?!? Like the Israelites, God saved me, He rescued me from a life of slavery—slavery to drugs, slavery to alcohol, slavery to porn, slavery to resentment, slavery to being a victim. He rescued me from the life of slavery, He’s taking me somewhere, He’s got a plan for my life, and I respond with BUT because my focus is on what I DON’T HAVE, not what I DO HAVE. God help me.
NO MORE BUTS!
Today, I’m choosing to fill my life with THANK YOU! Thank you for reminding me that you want to lead me THROUGH my struggles, not take me OUT of them. Thank you for calling me Your son in spite of my ungrateful heart. Thank you for loving me enough to remind me of WHO You are and WHAT You’ve done, when I need it the most.
Thank you.
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