Devotionals for the Heart: Why God wants us to have a grateful heart

Do You Have a Complaining Spirit or A Grateful Heart?
A devotional by Colette Christopher

The rabble with them began 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, leeks, onions and garlic. But now we have lost our appetite; we never see anything but this manna!”—Numbers 11:5-6 (NIV)

The children of Israel often seemed to forget what the Lord did for them after their exodus from slavery in Egypt and journey to the Promised Land.

They experienced mighty miracles from the hand of the Lord, but that did not stop their complaining spirits. We can be like that as well when we face situations that seem daunting and impossible. When the Lord allows hardships in our lives, we seldom stop to reflect on the good things He did for us in the past.

Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines complain as: “to express grief, pain, or discontent”. When we fail to see the good things that God has done and desire something else rather than what He provides, we are expressing our discontent with Him. This suggests that God does not have the best in store for us nor does He often give us the best. And that is certainly not true. When we read the history of the Israelites, we can see how much God loved His chosen people. It was He who was a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. It was He who parted the Red Sea and caused them to walk through dry land. It was the same God who gave them manna from heaven, yet they complained about what they had before, and not about what God was doing for them now. They reflected on the meat they had to eat in Egypt, but not on the harsh treatment they had endured as slaves, from which God had delivered them.

I am the first to admit that I was that person, and at times will lean back into that spirit. I tend to forget what God did for me in the past because my focus is on the current difficulty. This tends to happen when I am in a particularly tough season, praying for and expecting a miracle, but the Lord seems nowhere to be found. Can you identify with this?

We can read about the Israelites and think that we would not have complained, but we would. We just need to look back on past hardships and examine our hearts and see that we have done the same thing. Recently, I was praying to the Lord about a particular matter that I desperately need His help with. Truth be told, it required a miracle that I needed to have faith for, but in that moment, I had none.

My mind went back to a place I left seven years ago, and I started telling myself that maybe if I were still there, what I am experiencing would not be happening. As I engaged with that thought, I felt convicted by the Holy Spirit. Immediately, He reminded me of how God came through for me during those seven years. The multiple miracles, favor, grace, and mercy that He extended, and now, because I am in a hard place, I choose to forget what He has done and to complain against my Heavenly Father.

In that moment, all I could do was ask for His forgiveness. I started to recount the many ways that God showed up for me, and I felt so bad because I knew that it was God alone who kept me, my home, my sanity, and so much more. I chose to sing songs of worship from a grateful heart instead of engaging a heart of complaining. In doing so, my entire atmosphere shifted from one of darkness and gloom to one of brightness and hope. It is a choice that we can choose to make.

I still haven’t received the miracle yet, but I know it’s coming, and I still choose to have a grateful heart. It is important to command our spirits to remember the goodness of God because it doesn’t come naturally to us.

We must choose to give thanks for where we are now because God is right here with us, walking alongside each of us in this journey called life. Don’t choose to look back at only the things that you thought satisfied your cravings and made you happy in the past; look back at what God delivered and saved you from. A right perspective matters. God provides us with everything that we need on this journey. The problem is that it doesn’t always fit in with how we think our life should look.

Today, be encouraged that even in the hardness and the harshness of this life, God will take care of you. You may believe that what you are going through now and the provisions that God is giving you currently are inadequate to meet your needs. But please note that it’s not true.

Look at your life and think about the times you choose to express gratitude to God for what He’s given you instead of complaining to Him about what you do not have. What happens in your spirit when you make either the choice to complain or be grateful? What do you see?

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines gratitude as: “the state of being grateful; thankfulness”. Today, choose thankfulness because the Bible says in Proverbs 17:22 (NLT), “A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person’s strength.”

I choose to be thankful today and every day. What about you?

Let’s Pray:

Heavenly Father,

We acknowledge that You are our God, our Provider, our Source for all that we need. We confess that we have complained against You. Please forgive us for forgetting Your goodness and Your grace. Forgive us for wanting the things of the past and forgetting what You brought us through. Please replace our complaining spirit with a heart of gratefulness. Father, help us when we choose to complain to look towards Your goodness and let praise flow from the inside of us. Lord, I thank you for my friend who is reading this today. Fill his or her heart with joy and remind them that just as You did for the children of Israel, You will do for them too. In Jesus’s name, I pray. Amen.

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Song of Reflection #1: “God I'm Just Grateful” by Elevation Worship & Chandler Moore. Listen to it here.

Song of Reflection #2: “Thank You” by The Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir. Listen to it here.

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Author Bio:

Colette Christopher is an empowered woman who inspires women to be who they were created to be. Her core message is empowerment. She is an author, certified life coach, podcast host, and trainer with the Maxwell Leadership team. 

Colette believes that an empowered woman empowers others and is powerful in knowing who she is and what she can accomplish. Colette is on a mission to impact the lives of the women assigned to her, whether she is their coach or trainer or shares a word that will transform their lives.

Colette utilizes her Christian principles as the base of all her engagements. She is passionate about fulfilling her life purpose of empowering women to know who they are, rebuild their confidence, and use their voices as tools to uplift themselves and others.

​​She is the founder of the M.E.E. Movement L.L.C., a faith-based empowerment ministry business that helps women of faith rebuild their confidence and use their voice to walk in their purpose through life coaching, mentoring, and empowerment speaking. Colette believes in using the gifts God has given her to help women be who God has called them to be and ultimately fulfill the purpose for which they were created. She lives by Romans 8:28 (NIV), that promises, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."

A native of Jamaica, Colette resides in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. She is the mother of two beautiful young women, a son-in-love, and two grandsons. Colette enjoys reading, writing, watching good movies, and chatting with her daughters and friends.

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Connect with Colette:
Podcast: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2367935
Email: Colettemarieonline@gmail.com