Sharing "Journey to the Cross" by Paul David Tripp.
***************************************************************************
It is good to silence complaint in your life by sitting down and taking the time to count your blessings.
So many blessings, so many graces, so many gifts, so much love. There is no rational explanation; there is no human reason; there is no scientific formula; no evolutionary theory; no political machinations; no cultural privilege; no chance; no fate; nothing earned; nothing achieved; nothing deserved; no right; no entitlement; no family inheritance; no right of passage; no reward for work done; no prize for achievement; no deserved recognition.
There is a miracle operating here; there is amazing favor; there is unprecedented mercy; there is boundless love; there is only one explanation; there is but one rationale. Blood was shed outside the city walls, a perfect man with the criminal element nailed to a torture tree, hung there by those he made. No words of defense, no actions of resistance. Favored Son, now willing Sufferer, carrying the sin of multitudes. Mocked by onlookers, forsaken by the Father, willing Lamb, acceptable sacrifice, planned from eternity, accomplished in time, so we would know so many blessings, so many graces, so many gifts, so much love.
During this season when you are thinking about the hold that the world still has on you, when you’re confessing your struggle with sin, and when you’re focusing on the suffering and sacrifice of Jesus that secured your hope in this life and the one to come, take time to count the many right-here, right-now blessings that the work of Jesus has delivered to you. You probably don’t need me to tell you this, but I will: it is more natural for sinners to complain than to give thanks. If you listen to yourself, you'll find that this is true. Our tendency to complain is one of the results of the selfishness of sin. Complaint reminds us that we keep sticking ourselves in the center of our worlds and making life all about us.
Gratitude is a powerful weapon against complaint. It is impossible to give thanks and complain at the same time. The more you spend time counting your blessings, the less time you’ll have to number your complaints. Complaint is a distorted and inaccurate way of looking at your life. For the child of God, a life of grumbling is the result of a factually inaccurate way of assessing life. It is factually inaccurate because it misses the ultimate facts of your existence: the intervention, operation, and generous blessings of God’s amazing grace. It focuses on what you don’t have and forgets the marvelous blessings that are yours that you could have never earned, achieved, or deserved in your own strength or based on your own performance. God’s grace unleashes into your life blessings that are too many to number. No matter what difficulties you are facing, they are outweighed by the storehouse of blessings that are yours in Christ Jesus.
So take time out of each day, if only for a few moments, to count your blessings. Buy a journal or open a Google Doc, and each day catalog the blessings in your life, from the smallest and most mundane to those that are huge and life-changing. Fight the battle with complaint by developing a day-by-day habit of gratitude. Begin counting your blessings, and watch how the practice begins to alter the way you look at your life. No one is more worthy of your praise than your generous, loving, faithful, wise, and gracious Savior.
Gratitude silences complaint.
GOING DEEPER
Reflection Questions
1. Looking at a typical day, what percentage of your time is spent grumbling and what percentage is spent giving thanks?
2. Why do you think it is so difficult for us to remember to give thanks? What practical things can you do to draw your heart away from complaining and toward praise?
3. Have you ever kept a gratitude journal? What benefits did this have—or could it have if you haven’t tried it yet—for you?
Read Psalm 103, and thank the Lord for his many blessings.
A psalm of David.
1 Let all that I am praise the Lord; with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name. 2 Let all that I am praise the Lord; may I never forget the good things he does for me. 3 He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases. 4 He redeems me from death and crowns me with love and tender mercies. 5 He fills my life with good things.My youth is renewed like the eagle’s!
6 The Lord gives righteousness and justice to all who are treated unfairly. 7 He revealed his character to Moses and his deeds to the people of Israel. 8 The Lord is compassionate and merciful, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. 9 He will not constantly accuse us, nor remain angry forever.10 He does not punish us for all our sins; he does not deal harshly with us, as we deserve.11 For his unfailing love toward those who fear him is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth.12 He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west.
13 The Lord is like a father to his children, tender and compassionate to those who fear him. 14 For he knows how weak we are; he remembers we are only dust. 15 Our days on earth are like grass; like wildflowers, we bloom and die. 16 The wind blows, and we are gone—as though we had never been here. 17 But the love of the Lord remains forever with those who fear him. His salvation extends to the children’s children 18 of those who are faithful to his covenant, of those who obey his commandments!
19 The Lord has made the heavens his throne; from there he rules over everything.
20 Praise the Lord, you angels, you mighty ones who carry out his plans, listening for each of his commands. 21 Yes, praise the Lord, you armies of angels who serve him and do his will! 22 Praise the Lord, everything he has created, everything in all his kingdom.
Let all that I am praise the Lord.
No comments:
Post a Comment