All throughout the bible God tells us to be thankful and praise Him for what we have and what He has done. And rightly so, He deserves it all!
[There; that is a whole blog post in in itself, but I will go on]
Because I know God, I know He has our best in mind when He asks things of us, such as being thankful and praising Him for it.
There have been many scientific studies done that show people who are thankful for what they have are generally happier both mentally and emotionally.
This doesn't particularly surprise me because God made us and knew gratitude and thankfulness would be good for us, mentally and emotionally. .
I also know that God is most concerned for our spiritual needs.
In my own life I've noticed that when I tend to be neglectful of being thankful, well... then I start to grumble about this little thing or that little thing and I suddenly find myself in an attitude where I am not satisfied with my life (!) in the season and place and circumstances God has placed me. And THAT is dangerous.
Thinking on my own life, all the times that I've chosen willful sin is because I wasn't satisfied with something. I was looking outside of the sphere of my own life into others to see what they had and I didn't and searching for...something else. It's a slippery slope, as you search for something else, you neglect the people and things in your life that ends up causing more problems.
I think many have been in this place, are still there or are slipping into it.
Saying this I don't believe it is wrong to pray for a change in circumstances or things that you do not have, but I've learned that it is important to wait on God and be content in that duration of time.
This helps in not falling into the stronghold of dissatisfaction.
But God is faithful and able to bring you out from this place, which is just one more thing to thank Him for!
These verses from Psalm 63 [1-5] I found particularly beautiful:
You, God, are my God,
earnestly I seek you;
I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you,
in a dry and parched land
where there is no water.
I have seen you in the sanctuary
and beheld your power and your glory.
I have seen you in the sanctuary
and beheld your power and your glory.
Because your love is better than life,
my lips will glorify you.
I will praise you as long as I live,
and in your name I will lift up my hands.
I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods;
with singing lips my mouth will praise you.
Be satisfied my friends!
