Count Your Blessings

Some people have turned crabby into an art form. If you say, “I don’t have anything to complain about,” they are happy to offer some suggestions.

I think we live in the most prosperous nation in the most amazing time in history, and yet on social media it seems that all I hear is complaining. In the Book of Numbers in the Bible, we read how the people of Israel had become a nation of complainers. God had delivered them from the slavery and oppression of Egypt, but they despised the desert he had lead them to. They turned up their noses at the menu, they rebelled against their leader Moses, and they spoke against God because they couldn’t believe he could provide water in the desert for so many people and cattle.

To despise God’s blessings is to despise God. The Israelites were like the old man who approached a young stranger in the post office and asked, “Sir, would you address this postcard for me?” The man gladly did so, and then offered to write a short note for the old fellow. Finally the stranger asked, “Now, is there anything else I can do for you?” The old man thought a moment and said, “Yes, at the end could you add, ‘Please excuse the sloppy handwriting?’”

God doesn’t take complaining lightly. Such words despise His grace. In this season, let us stop and count our blessings—think about them and thank God for them. Gratitude is always the right attitude any season of the year.

God will help you to see the bright side this Thanksgiving... if you’ll just let Him.