Over the weekend I was in a funk.
Being stuck at home has really messed with my head.
My business typically has me traveling at least every other week.
Once a quarter, my family and I typically travel somewhere to get together to get away.
By this time, in a typical year, we would have gone to the beach for a week at Easter.
Under the current environment, it’s been two months of being home.
Besides driving to the office, which is about five to seven miles away, I don’t think that I’ve left the radius of my house during this time.
My first thought was, “I’m tired of this.”
Are you experiencing the same thing?
Are you frustrated about being stuck at home?
This is where God convicted me this morning.
God brought to my mind the Israelites as he brought them out of Egypt.
Remember, they were in slavery in Egypt.
God brings them out of slavery.
There are miracles and provision along the way.
Every day, he is providing them with food in the form of manna.
Before long, they begin to complain.
Numbers 11:4-6, has the account of this event.
“The rabble with them begin to crave other food. And again, the Israelites started wailing and said, “If only we had meat to eat. We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost. Also the cucumbers, melons, onions, and garlic, but now we have lost our appetite. We never see anything but this manna.”
God provided everything they needed and yet they complained.
And I realized, “You know what, that’s me.”
It was a mirror put right back on my life.
During this virus I’ve been blessed.
I’ve had a roof over my head.
My business is still open and running and I’ve been able to keep people employed.
I’ve had food on the table every day.
We never even came close to running out of toilet paper.
The weather has been beautiful.
And yet I find myself complaining about what I don’t have.
I don’t know how it is for you, but I find that when I complain, I take my eye off of the wonderful things that I have.
I realized I stopped looking at the blessing.
I have to ask, “What am I complaining about?”
Certainly, I would like to go to a beach or the mountains.
I would like to get away.
At the same time, God’s provision has been absolutely perfect.
Complaining is a waste of time.
There is a difference between wanting something, but then being so ungrateful that I don’t have any appreciation for what I’ve been given.
As we begin to shift the season getting into a new normal, how can we maintain gratitude for what we have?
How can we remember that our gratitude will be the key to our own transformation; and that transformation has the ability to impact today, tomorrow, and eternity.
What will you transform today?