28 Days of Gratitude: Day 22
Scripture of the Day: “Soon the people began to complain about their hardship, and the Lord heard everything they said. Then the Lord’s anger blazed against them, and he sent a fire to rage among them, and he destroyed some of the people in the outskirts of the camp.” (Numbers 11:1 NLT)
In today’s featured verse, the Lord’s anger burned—literally— against the children of Israel for complaining. God was so angry, He sent fire in their camp, and some of them died. The Bible does not tell us exactly what the Israelites were complaining about beyond some general “hardship.”
It is apparent that God was fed up with their ingratitude after He had rescued them from Egypt, rained manna from Heaven to feed them in the wilderness, and graciously led them daily on their way to their Promised Land.
In verse 2, the people cried out for help, and Moses prayed to God to quench the fire, and He did. Amazingly, by verse 4, Israel was right back to complaining! This time, it was about being sick and tired of eating bread from Heaven, because Israel now wanted meat.
Wow.
The fact that they started complaining after God saved them from His fiery wrath is evidence that their murmuring and grumbling was a cycle. This was not an isolated incident but a pattern. Granted, traveling by foot through the wilderness wasn’t the easiest or most comfortable thing, but God still cared for them and provided supernatural accommodations.
We see from the Israelites’ behavior that ungratefulness is often tied to our self-centeredness. When we focus on all we want and don’t have, we overlook all God has given and what we do have.
REJECTING A BLESSING
A woman who helped raise me and my siblings used to clean out the refrigerator and make soup out of all the leftovers. She would dump a little of everything in that pot, even if it had molded in the fridge. One day, she put a bowl of soup on the table in front of me, and I frowned.
“I don’t want that,” I said, grossed out.
“You better eat what I put in front of you, or you will be hungry!” she replied.
Well, I sat there and refused to eat. But, after a little while, my stomach started growling, and the hunger pangs grew intense. Eventually, I picked up that spoon and started slurping, and that soup was the most delicious soup I had ever tasted! I had been rejecting a blessing and didn’t even know it.
After that day, I got excited whenever I saw her cleaning out the refrigerator, because I knew, that was about to be some good eating! She has since gone home to be with Jesus, and my whole family still talks about her homemade soup. I’ve never tasted any that is more delicious than hers.
Sometimes, God is trying to bless us, but it doesn’t look like what we want, so we complain and reject it. If we were more grateful, and if we would open our hearts to receive, God could give us more good things.
CLOSE IT UP
Numbers 11:10 says, “Moses heard all the families standing in the doorways of their tents whining, and the Lord became extremely angry.”
It says all the families—not just a few—were whining because they didn’t like the menu. What have you been whining about? Complaining about? Are you overlooking God’s goodness? Mercy? Provision? Favor?
That same woman I was just talking about also couldn’t stand whining and crying. And whenever anyone would have a meltdown, whine, or complain, she would say, “Close it up… I said, close it up right now!”
When we heard her say that, we knew she was fed up with the complaints, so we would close it up as she demanded.
In our walk with God, before complaining, what if we closed our mouth and didn’t reopen it until it was filled with praise? We would be a lot more grateful and a lot less whiny, wouldn’t we?
Our sentiments would be like David’s in Psalm 137:6. In this verse, he was reflecting on his appreciation for his homeland, his people, and the ordinances of God, and he said, “May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth if I do not remember you…”
May our tongues cling to the roof of our mouths if, despite life’s imperfections, we ever forget to express gratitude for all the good things God has done.
JOURNAL ASSIGNMENT
Reflect on your week, and write down 5 things that happened this week for which you are grateful.
Now, let’s pray.
God, thank You for all Your goodness and awesome benefits. You have shown me great mercy and have taken care of me in spite of what may be going wrong. It is my heart’s desire to always express my gratitude. I will never be able to repay You for what You have done. I am forever indebted to You. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
If you desire prayer, please allow me, along with my intercessory prayer team, to stand in faith with you for breakthrough. We would be so honored. We have seen God work over and over again. There is power in agreement. Click here to request prayer now.
As always, thanks for reading and until next time... may today's cup of inspiration uplift, encourage, and empower you!
What Is the 28 Days of Gratitude Series Based On?
This gratitude series is based on 1 Thessalonians 5:18 NLT, which says, “Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.”
In my time spent with the Lord, He dealt with me about how we have a tendency to focus on our issues, problems, challenges, and difficulties, but we are not necessarily intentional about focusing on His goodness. Failing to meditate on His works forces us into a cycle of complaining and blinds us to the amazing ways He reveals Himself on a daily basis. In all circumstances, let us be more grateful.
What do I need to participate?
To participate in this series, you will need a notebook and a journal, because it requires writing some things down. In whatever journal you choose—and it doesn’t need to be anything fancy—daily, you will write down the Scripture of the day.
The featured verse will highlight a complaint from the Bible to help you see that, throughout history, others have struggled just as you do. Yet, God desires that we be grateful. In your journal, I would ask that you write the verse you see featured on the Daily Cup blog each morning, then jot down 5 things for which you are grateful.
5 is the number of grace, so you will be focusing on the grace of God and how His mercy has been evident in your life, even during rough times. At the end of each post, 5 suggested thing to write about are listed.
