God Is Enough
Psalm 100:4-5
Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. For the Lord isgood; His mercy is everlasting, And His truth endures to all generations.
Many years ago, Linda and I were spending a few days in NW Colorado. We were actually there visiting some landowners and putting together some hunting leases with my brother and sister-in-law. We stayed at a small bed and breakfast on the edge of Meeker Colorado. Out the back window there was a beautiful view of what I called a "parfait mountain". These mountains around Meeker have exposed rocks and dirt are somewhat striped red and white.
Linda made a comment to the owner, who lived right next door, about how beautiful it was. This lady seemed confused and wasn't sure what Linda was talking about. She had lived there so long that she failed to notice the beauty and blessings from her own back yard.
As Christians, especially those that live in North America, there is a big danger of getting used to blessings. Like someone that has a beautiful mountain in their back year and doesn't notice it, we forget to notice the blessings that God gives us... daily
Emerson once said that, "if the stars came out only once a year, everybody would stay up all night to behold them." We have seen the stars so often that we don't bother to look at them anymore. We have grown accustomed to our blessings.
In the book of Numbers we read where God spared the Israelites from the slavery of Egypt. He led them into the desert, and He provided blessings of food that sustained them. After a while the people became unhappy with what God was providing and forgot the blessings. They became so unhappy that they asked to go back into slavery, just to have some different food.
How often do we receive blessings upon blessings, only to become accustomed to them... then wish we had more or different? It's nothing different than the Israelite's issues. We want more, we want better.
A few years ago, on Thanksgiving, Linda and I decided we needed to give my mother a HUGE "THANK YOU". We fed 21 people for Thanksgiving dinner. It was an all day job. We've realized the last few years how much my mom gave up to provide for the rest of the family for many many years. Through those years we took it for granted... but God's love and blessings were shown through my mom's serving of the entire family. Thank you Mom!
One of the sure signs that we have grown accustomed to our blessings is the spirit of criticism and complaining. Instead of thanking God for what we have, we take them for granted and complain about them and tell him we wish we had something else. You can be sure that if God gave us what we asked for, we would eventually complain about that as well.
Sure happiness can be found in contentment in what God provides in our lives.
Be content... and never take His blessings for granted.
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