The reason people complain is because they have lost hope, but you can live in hope on a daily basis! When most people arrive at a dead end and there is seemingly no more hope, murmuring and complaining take over. I am glad however to inform you that, what satan shows as the end is not actually the end. He deals in shadows, but God deals in realities. That is why David declared in the Psalms,
“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for thou art with me...” Psalms 23: 4
So, there is the shadow of death! Satan does not have the power of death! Jesus took it from him; he is left only with the shadows. If you do not have a good understanding of the power that is in reality you may be overtaken with the shadows you see around you. But how do you inspire hope when the dark shadows of life seem to becloud you, and make life unbearable and uncomfortable? How do you inject life into what seems to be dying? It is simply by the weapon of THANKSGIVING. What we thank God for can never die neither can it grind to a halt. When we thank God it is an expression of our faith and our hope for a brighter future. People who thank God are able to see beyond their circumstances. It is when you can’t see beyond your circumstances that you complain. I would like to say therefore that the only way to express your Christian maturity is by your thanksgiving. Every mature Christian is an addicted thanksgiver. It therefore also follows that every murmurer and complainer is a baby Christian. When you are mature you will always see something to thank God for even in the midst of negative and contrary situations. Your thanksgiving is an evidence of hope. Remember, what you see today is just a shadow; the real thing is coming tomorrow. David said,
‘...weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.” Psalms 30: 5
With the breaking of every morning, there is a great weight of joy awaiting you! If you are a man of hope nothing good can be cut off from you, because hope keeps you in a position of anticipation. This position is strengthened as you continually give thanks to God. Let thanksgiving become your daily thought, your daily language and your daily expression. Never measure your praise and your thanksgiving by what you see; because there is something beyond what you see, there is joy ahead of you! Your thanksgiving is the catalyst that makes it appear. Your thanksgiving opens the gate that blocks your entrance into joy unlimited. When you thank God, satan becomes confused. It is the repellant that puts him at a point of resistance. It will amaze you to realize that when you thank God and praise Him, He comes closer and satan stays away, but when you murmur and complain, satan comes closer and God stays away! Thanksgiving inspires enthusiasm, and enthusiasm simply means ‘God within’. It therefore follows that God does not come except you are a ‘thanksgiver’! Hence, hopelessness is a disease that only thanksgiving can cure. Look around your life and thank God for what remains! Hear this, you may not be able to recover what has gone but there is something better that lies ahead of you, there is hope! Yesterday is your enemy but tomorrow is your friend. It is waiting for you and calling for you. Depart from your yesterday and embrace your tomorrow. Whatever you had yesterday can never, never be as glorious as what is waiting for you. What lies ahead of you is of a far greater value than what lies behind you.
“...Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him.” 1 Corinthians 2: 9
This Scripture should inspire you to thank God. He has made provision for a tomorrow that is brighter than your today! So, wake up in the morning with thanksgiving, in the afternoon give thanks and at night close the day with thanksgiving. Do you know that today is the womb of your tomorrow? Just like a man needs to put life into a woman’s womb for her to conceive, the life you need to put into today to produce a brighter tomorrow is thanksgiving. Hence, if you neglect thanksgiving today, you can’t see a brighter tomorrow. So, rejoice evermore and in every thing give thanks, a great future awaits you in 2010 in Jesus mighty name. Shalom!
