Are you an Ungrateful Human?

So yesterday morning I was getting ready for church and I was doing something I always do, praying under my breath whilst doing something else. I was praying about a particular situation that has been haunting me for a little while - hence the reason I was praying whilst dressing. Anyways, in the middle of my muttered prayer a thought hit me quite suddenly - Human beings are the most ungrateful creatures on the planet!

What? Where did that come from? Well, listen to this. If you were walking along the road and stopped at an intersection to cross, you look both ways and it's clear so you decide to cross. Just as you step onto the roadway, a car comes barrelling around the corner about to hit you. Out of the blue, a total stranger jumps out into the street and pulls you away from the oncoming vehicle, saving your life. You are so stunned and elated that you can't stop saying thank you. The stranger is bashful and thinks nothing of his act, after all, you're another human being and as far as he sees it, he just couldn't let you die. But here's the twist, would you after being so thankful to this stranger for saving your life, now turn around and tell him, "hey, I'm hungry aren't you going to feed me?" There's no way you'd do that right? I mean that man saved your life, at this point you need nothing else from him in order to be thankful right?

Newsflash, we do that to God every single day. He saved us, he's clothed us and fed us, but instead of being satisfied with the last thing he did for us, we ask for more, and more and more. "Hey God, what about the mortgage?" As soon as he's done that we yell, "Hey God, how come you didn't take care of my student loans too?"

Now don't get me wrong, the Bible clearly tells us that God will supply ALL of our needs. However, in a lot of cases we have lost focus on the real relationship with God. That relationship is not about how many bills he can clear for us or anything else of that sort. It's based purely on his love for us. As a matter of fact, without his love, we simply wouldn't exist. His love was most evident when he saved us from eternal death. He's the stranger who walked into the path of the oncoming vehicle just to pull us out of the way and we're grateful for all of two seconds before we bring the next request to Him.

My encouragement to us all today is to concentrate on being thankful to God a little bit more. He knows about the rent and the bills and the job that we so desperately need, but guess what, you're still standing, so that means that he's always been on the job, keeping you alive, so say thank you for that. Instead of bombarding him with requests, build a relationship, a real one, one that involves getting to know him. He knows your heart and by sheer virtue of your tight relationship with him, he'll provide your NEEDS. It doesn't mean that you don't have to ask, because the Bible does say to "Ask and it shall be given unto you" (Matt 7:7) but it also says:

Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. Matthew 6:33


Joana James - Author of From Redemption to Maturity,   Nightmare at Emerald High & Alana and Alyssa's Secret & Finding Romeo