Today's Devotional Written By A Young Woman Who Has Learned That Following Christ Cost: Tracy A. Dixon
Ungrateful Words….Spoken from Ungrateful Hearts
1 Thessalonians 5:18 New Living Translation (NLT)
18 Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.
The past few weeks my facebook page has had the ability to take my emotions on a roller coaster ride. Posts have invoked anger, joy, disgust and hope. I read some posts and I pray the words of Jesus, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do”. When that woman is posting about how much she can’t stand her husband, I wonder if she takes a moment to think of the woman whose spouse just died, or is involuntarily separated from his family? When the woman posts about how miserable her pregnancy is going, does she consider the woman who can’t have children, has miscarried, or gave birth to a stillborn?
When that man is posting about how much he hates his job, does he realize how many men can’t find employment and doesn’t know how he will take care of his family? When that spoiled child is posting about how much they can’t stand their parents, do they think about the child in foster care, the one being molested or the one whose parents don’t care enough to say no sometimes? I wonder if we ever stop and think before we say and do some of the things we do.
When we post about how much we can’t stand this or how much more we are in need of, do we stop to think about all that God has already provided us with? When we post about not wanting to get out of the bed to go to work, do we realize we slap God in the face because He choose to wake us up one more morning and He blessed us with a job. When we say our spouse, children or home is miserable, do we think that God was supposed to give us a family. Do we really understand the power that lies within the words we speak, or do we just say what we feel in the moment, and keep it moving?
Sunday night I took Jaida to her favorite restaurant and about ten minutes into dinner I realized that I didn’t have my wallet; not a dollar bill, a credit card, debit card…nothing. I offered to run home to get it, but the manager told me not to worry. He told me to eat while our food was hot and to just return the next day to pay. In that moment I IMMEDIATELY thanked God for His grace. Sure, His favor would have had the manager say, “this one is one us”, but His grace kept me out of the kitchen or even jail. So many times we get upset because God doesn’t wipe our slate clean, pay our bill in full, or do all of the hard work. Sometimes it’s about praising Him for nothing more than just showing up. Watch how you allow ungratefulness to creep in. If you think you have something to complain about now……..let Him remove His grace and mercy, and see how life goes then!!
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