There is that temptation to be less grateful to God once you have all the comforts of life. The tendency is there to forget your humble or difficult beginnings and begin to think less of God’s role in your life once you have all your needs met.
The stroke of luck by which you go your visa to the United States, for instance, may be forgotten the moment life is sweet for you in the wealthy country.
There is danger in this. “But thou shalt remember the Lord thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day” (Deuteronomy 8:18). But remember always, that He made it happen for you. But with God, ALL things are possible (Matthew 19:26). There is nothing that you are today in terms of success that He did not have a hand in. He made you.
The greatest danger in a Christian’s life is to be ungrateful for the role of Almighty God in our successes. But we have that propensity to forget His goodness and how He turned things around for us. This portends danger to our testimonies. The children of Israel turned their backs against God many times on their way to the Promised Land. Whenever there was a moment of respite in the course of this tortuous path, they forgot God and spoke ill of Him, or even asked for another god in His place. They forgot that when there was no way to leave Egypt, He parted the Red Sea for them to pass and consumed their assailants in the great waters. They could not remember that when there was no food, He provided them with manna from Heaven. When there was no water, the Lord made water to flow from a rock right in the middle of the wilderness. When they were sick, He healed them. And so on.
Yet, the Israelites forgot all this and even deliberately moved against God, requesting a golden calf. They suffered the consequences one way or another. Has God changed? Whatever a man sows, that he shall also reap. It is still that same God that abhors ingratitude and that would deal with it appropriately.
When it is good, it is God. He has brought you to a good land. “For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, that flow out of valleys and hills; a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey; a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing; a land whose stones are iron and out of whose hills you can dig copper (Deuteronomy 8: 7-9).
He brought you all those riches, goodness, joy, satisfaction, comfort, good job, health, and so forth. He brought you to where you are for a reason. He provides all the wine, honey, milk, bread, water, and plenty that you have because He brought you there. Never must you forget or think that He did it. No one else did it. When you have eaten and you are full, you must bless the Lord your God for the good land He has kept you.
You must never think you have arrived by your strength. It is not your wisdom or commonsense that brought you where you are. It is not your degree(s) that made these things happen. It is God’s unfolding plan for your life. You were in a difficult situation, a workplace, or a past that was filled with toughness or hard times; but you found that situation changed. Some people are more qualified than you are, but you are better placed and wealthier. Some are more experienced, but you are their supervisor or manager. It is not by your power. It is simply God that made these things happen.
Our Debt of Gratitude
We owe God gratitude for every turnaround and blessing in our lives. “We owe God a constant debt of gratitude concerning you, my dear family. It is only right and proper. Your faith is growing marvelously, and the love which every single one of you has for each other is multiplying (2 Thessalonians 1:3-4). God demands that every man must return to give Him the glory for each of His acts in our lives (Luke 17:15-19). When we fail to do this, by refusing to give God the glory that is due to Him, it is counted as debt against the individual.
Ingratitude is most times spurred on by pride, or it can be seen as symptomatic of it. We do not want to agree any longer that any supernatural force is behind our turnaround. There is a semi-consciousness that we did it by ourselves and owe no one any gratitude or thanks for our favorable situation or progress. We try to link it to some diploma, training, effort, creative idea, or luck. By doing this, we are offending God, who is behind every man’s turnaround or breakthrough. It is in the same light that anyone who refuses to thank people who helped them in one way or another offends that helper. We try to remove our helper from our narrative of progress or breakthroughs.
This is wrong, and it is sinful. If we do it to men, it can change the situation back to what it used to be. If this can happen if we do it to men, can you imagine what can happen when we unacknowledged or removed God from our stories of success?
Friends, I cannot overemphasize it that ingratitude to God is unacceptable. It is a mark of pride and lack of recognition of His role in our turnaround. We must return to the path of being grateful to God and to men whom He uses to bless and prosper us. Let us live with a heart full of gratitude and acknowledgment at all times, that God alone did that good that has come our way. He shall further prosper and keep us in prosperity, in Jesus’ precious name.
- Pastor Sam Adelusimo is the Resident Pastor, RCCG Chapel of Praise, Northwest Arkansas, United States of America
