28 Days of Gratitude: Day 6
“‘Lord,’ Martha said to Jesus, ‘if you had been here, my brother would not have died.’” (John 11:21 NIV)
These are the words of a distraught sister whose brother had passed away of a disease four days ago, and she believed Jesus could have prevented his death had He shown up sooner. Martha’s heart was broken, and her complaint came from a deep place of grief and devastation.
Granted, Jesus had been notified days earlier that Lazarus was sick, and He purposely did not come immediately (v. 6). Imagine how much sobbing Mary and Martha, the two sisters of Lazarus, must have done before Jesus arrived in their hometown of Bethany. Their situation appeared hopeless, and it didn’t have to come to this.
Scripture tells us Jesus loved Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. They were His friends, and He cared about them, so why did He let this happen? He could heal and help anyone, why not Lazarus—whose name literally means, God has helped?
Notice, not only did Martha complain, but she also blamed Jesus. It’s Your fault for not making it here in time, she accused in frustration. Complaining and blaming often go together. Have you ever blamed God and complained that He could have and should have helped? How about complaining and blaming yourself? Do you do that?
THE COMPLAIN-AND-BLAME GAME
The complain-and-blame game is one we sometimes play with ourselves. Have you ever felt like a failure is your fault, so you beat yourself up for not doing better? Have you ever thought, if only I had done this, then that wouldn’t have happened?
It is natural to assume that there is a predictable cause-and-effect pattern. Sometimes, there is, but often there isn’t. For instance, you may get sick despite living a healthy lifestyle. Someone may walk away from you despite you treating them well and loving them. A person may die despite being in perfect health. You might lose the job despite being an excellent employee and hard worker. Your child may go astray despite having been raised in the ways of the Lord. You may not get a perfect score despite having studied hard for the exam. Your creative vision may not come alive despite working hard on your craft and spending hours to improve.
If you have a tendency to complain and blame, you will rack your brain for answers and beat yourself up over what you cannot understand or change. You will also have lots of questions and anger directed toward God. We all need things to make sense!
IT’S ILLOGICAL
The only problem with needing things to make sense is, life doesn’t follow a logical pattern, and neither does God. What He does is often illogical, because it’s supernatural. In John 11, Jesus let Lazarus die for a specific purpose, and it is one He reveals in verse 25. Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die.”
Jesus was revealing His deity, His authority over death, and glorifying Himself through the situation. The Messiah was using Lazarus’s death to demonstrate that He was indeed the Son of God. That isn’t exactly a logical conclusion someone would draw from this situation, is it?
That’s why using logic or playing the complain-and-blame game isn’t a good idea. It doesn’t lead you to any real conclusions, but it does leave you with more questions and negative feelings.
WHAT IS GOD’S MISSION?
As we know, Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, and verse 45 says, “Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him.”
The Messiah’s mission was accomplished! What is God’s mission in your life? What is He trying to do? Is God using the situation you’re complaining about for a glorious purpose? Could it be that He wants to reveal Himself to you in a new way? Does He want to inspire faith in you? Is He developing your character and making you a better, stronger person? Is He allowing this to give you a powerful testimony in the end?
Ask yourself, if God had not let Lazarus die and allowed his body to start decomposing in the tomb, could He have worked this wow-worthy resurrection miracle that converted many souls?
CHANGE THE WAY YOU SEE THIS
How about you change the way you see this? Instead of trying to determine whose fault it is when things don’t go your way, exercise your faith, keep your attitude of gratitude, and believe that God is working to accomplish a greater purpose you do not yet see.
Remember the man who was born blind in John 9? The disciples assumed someone’s sin was responsible for his blindness, but Jesus corrected them. He essentially told the disciples, it’s no one’s fault; it’s just a platform for me to get glory. Then, he healed the man, and the man testified about that healing in front of unbelievers.
What have you been complaining about? Can you change the way you see it? What have you been blaming God, yourself, or others for? How can you replace complaining and blaming with gratitude for how God will turn this around and cause it to work for your good and His glory?
Trust His plan.
YOUR JOURNAL ASSIGNMENT
In your journal today, write down:
Something that once made you sad, but it turned out to be good for you.
Something that you could complain about now, but you choose to be thankful for it anyway.
One positive effect of a situation that you genuinely don’t prefer. Is it causing you to seek God more? Making you more disciplined? Building your faith? What is a good thing it’s doing?
One thing God has done for you today.
A Scripture of gratitude that reminds you of God’s goodness.
Now, let’s pray.
God, I thank You even for the uncomfortable situations You allow, because they help me see You and Your faithfulness in new ways. I praise You that You have a way of bringing something good out of the worst circumstances, and I know You will do that for me. When I don’t understand, please help me not to complain and blame You, myself, or others. It is my desire to be more faith-filled in uncertain times, because Your track record shows You can be trusted, and You’re always doing great things. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
If you desire prayer, please allow me, along with my intercessory prayer team, to stand in faith with you for breakthrough. We would be so honored. We have seen God work over and over again. There is power in agreement. Click here to request prayer now.
As always, thanks for reading and until next time... may today's cup of inspiration uplift, encourage, and empower you!
What Is the 28 Days of Gratitude Series Based On?
This gratitude series is based on 1 Thessalonians 5:18 NLT, which says, “Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.”
In my time spent with the Lord, He dealt with me about how we have a tendency to focus on our issues, problems, challenges, and difficulties, but we are not necessarily intentional about focusing on His goodness. Failing to meditate on His works forces us into a cycle of complaining and blinds us to the amazing ways He reveals Himself on a daily basis. In all circumstances, let us be more grateful.
What do I need to participate?
To participate in this series, you will need a notebook and a journal, because it requires writing some things down. In whatever journal you choose—and it doesn’t need to be anything fancy—daily, you will write down the Scripture of the day.
The featured verse will highlight a complaint from the Bible to help you see that, throughout history, others have struggled just as you do. Yet, God desires that we be grateful. In your journal, I would ask that you write the verse you see featured on the Daily Cup blog each morning, then jot down 5 things for which you are grateful.
5 is the number of grace, so you will be focusing on the grace of God and how His mercy has been evident in your life, even during rough times. At the end of each post, 5 suggested thing to write about are listed.
