You see and hear the phrase “Attitude of Gratitude” often in regard to the Laws of Attraction, particularly on social media. Another way to say this is “you attract more bees with honey” because if you are truly grateful as you go through life, good things will come your way, in addition to being thankful every day for the big and small blessings in your life.
Laws of Attraction aside, we should be filled with gratitude every day for what God has given to us, how He has provided for us. But are we really grateful?
Are we grateful when we get what we want and when things are going well or do we complain when we don’t get what we want or things aren’t going as smoothly as we’d like? Is your gratitude authentic or just a catchphrase?
Do you have an attitude of gratitude or an attitude of platitude?
As believers, it is easy to read the Bible and shake our heads at how foolish the people were – especially in the Old Testament. Didn’t they have enough proof that God provided for them and that He loved them? Why did they need to make their own idols or take ill-advised actions? They should know better! We’d never make mistakes like they did.
Right!?!
Ha… so, wrong!! We do it all the time.
The technology, the fashions, the societies change over time but human beings are subject to the same foolish decisions throughout time. Here’s an example.
God brought the Israelites out of captivity in Egypt.
He saved the Israelites’ children during Passover.
He protected them from the Egyptian army as they fled the country.
He parted the Red Sea for them before crushing their enemies.
He provided manna.
He made water flow out of rocks.
God traveled with them, guiding them so they were never physically lost.
He gave them the Commandments to live by.
He was taking them to the Promised Land.
In short, the Israelites never went hungry, never went thirsty, never went without God, and were on the way to a land so amazing they couldn’t even imagine it.
And what did the Israelites do?
Complained.
Incessantly.
Didn’t like the food. Didn’t like the walk. Didn’t like that they – for the time being – lived in tents rather than houses. In fact, many of the Israelites wanted to go back to being slaves in Egypt because they had better “stuff” there.
The Israelites were so unhappy they turned their backs on God by making the golden calf idol out of gold and worshipping it!
God gave them everything they needed to live but He didn’t give them everything they WANTED so their gratitude quickly melted, even wishing to go back to a miserable existence because the certainty of their miserable existence was preferable to the uncertainty of a promised amazing existence.
The Israelites’ gratitude and faith melted away when they determined that God wasn’t enough. And we know how that turned out for an entire generation of Israelites.
God gives us what we need. He doesn’t always give us what we want.
Are you still grateful when God doesn’t give you what you want? Or do you grumble? Do you pout? Do you do something ill-advised? Do you wish for a different circumstance because the old one was preferable to an unknown one?
Gratitude ends where our expectation from God begins.
In our ministry we have Israelites in a way.
They are the incarcerated men we minister to inside the prisons. They are held captive through their misdeeds. Most of them don’t know Jesus and how God provided a way back to Him through Jesus’s sacrifice.
They’ve never heard the Gospel taught in a way where the Holy Spirit is leading them and not man, and they have no clue what a disciple is or does until we come alongside them.
Even in prison, God freed these men before they ever took a step out of prison.
A handful of the men we serve want to continue on their spiritual journey upon release and be men on mission for God, wherever He leads them. This is where Freedom Lake began.
Now, Freedom Lake is still in its infancy and, with it, comes some growing pains.
The few men who are here at the beginning of Freedom Lake are currently staying with us in the discipleship house. This is the house they will be in for now until we can secure the long-term Freedom Lake property. We continue to pray for that property and are patiently waiting on God.
The Discipleship House focuses on their transition to life in the outside world to learn how to live a life free of addiction, to grow in their spiritual walk and relationship with God, and to learn to be disciple makers in any walk of life. While there, they have all their needs provided for them such as clothes, food and meals prepared, transportation, a loving atmosphere, and full-time employment is not an expectation of the men’s stay for the first 12 months.
Just like the early church, Freedom Lake is a community where honesty and integrity are valued, discipleship is lived out, and learning to balance spiritual growth with practical living with a Christ-centered decision-making process they can use to navigate life.
This is not the experience most recently released men have.
They could be going to a transitional house or they could be going back to the “old neighborhood” with the bad influences, the lack of employment opportunities, and the pressures of earning money to pay bills. The men of Freedom Lake are so blessed to be at the discipleship house and for what God has provided for them. They should have an attitude of gratitude always.
But you know what?
Some of the men have complained that the discipleship house God provided, for now, isn’t what they anticipated, and they put demands on wanting answers now as to when the bigger property will be ready. Some of the men said it would be better to be back in prison because in prison they have a structure they are used to living in and chaos that’s familiar.
Now, do not think less of the men of Freedom Lake because of what I have shared. They struggle with expectations too. We all can at one time or another.
You have probably had moments in your life when God wasn’t enough.
You wanted a better job. You wanted more money. You wanted a bigger house, a better car. Maybe you want a cabin and a boat. You see other people with those things and you complain because you don’t get everything you want and God’s not making it happen the way you want.
But still. God provides what you need.
He gave you Jesus and saved you from an eternal Death. That alone should be enough for us to have an attitude of gratitude.
Everything we have comes from God and everything we have belongs to God. What we do with it – including our attitude about it – is up to us. Grateful or grumblers? Gratitude or Platitude?
We are filled with gratitude because we see what God is doing in us and through us every day.
In the midst of a pandemic, God has done things with this ministry and with Freedom Lake that are nothing short of miraculous. Truly, nothing can stop God!
We are blessed, we are thankful, and we are grateful… even during the uncertainty because we know God is in control. If He wants it, it’s going to happen!
It is our hope and our prayer that you are not only thankful and grateful as you reflect on 2021 but are truly grateful each day for what God has provided for you and to you every day of your life.
Let your Attitude of Gratitude be such that other people want to know what your secret is. And then tell them about a man named Jesus. And what a story that is!
