A little boy was invited to a birthday party in the neighborhood. His mother said, "Be sure to thank the mother when you leave." When he returned, his mother asked him if he had thanked the mother who hosted the party. He said, "No, I was going to, but another boy said it ahead of me. He thanked her and she said, 'Don't mention it,' so I didn't."
It is amazing that when we become a Christian, the first months and years are filled with thanksgiving and gratitude. Equally, it seems that the gratitude we had the first year, like the morning tide, recedes each year proportionally from that first year of gratefulness and appreciation. When it comes to gratitude, for many believers, it is a life of low tide rather than a life of high tide.
There is a mechanism in each of us that causes us to seek contentment and completeness in things we have... or better yet, that which we don't have. Because of this mechanism, better known as the old nature, we can be so caught up in what we do not have that our imaginations become paralyzed. In short, we are unable to see beyond the small picture of the present.
The children of Israel provide us with a good example of a thankless heart. Remember they were delivered time and again by God but it did not seem to soften their stone hearts. They were ardent complainers. An incessant complainer is defective in so many ways. He is short-sighted. Like the Israelites, such a one easily forgets all the good things God has done. A complainer is one who harbors unbelief, as he finds trusting God's faithfulness extremely difficult.
A life of thanksgiving, on the other hand, is the one God expects. Jesus, before raising Lazarus from the grave, first thanked God. After he saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven, He thanked God. He lived a life of thanksgiving. One who lives such a life believes that all things, good or bad, work for his enrichment and good. He believes God is absolutely in control of his life and circumstances. He has faith and hope in God. Such hope and faith encourage him to work relentlessly for God.
William Law, a priest of the Church of England, during the 17th and 18th century stated:
"If anyone could tell you the shortest, sweetest way to all happiness and perfection, he must tell you... to thank and praise God for everything that happens to you. For it is certain that whatever seeming calamity happens to you, if you thank and praise God for it, you turn it into a blessing."
The Apostle Paul said, "Give thanks in all circumstances." (I Thessalonians 5:18)
This season is a season where our discontent pounces upon us like rain in a thunderstorm. As believers, let's resist the deep urges to look at our circumstances from a worldly viewpoint. Let's remember that we are complete IN CHRIST. As Peter put it so well, "His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence."(2 Peter 1:3)