Better is thanksgiving

Sometimes the church is out of focus sinking in a sea of claims and complaints to the Lord. The permanent claim to God for the fulfillment of his promises sounds like the 'bitch' of the Christian who clings to living an eternal childhood in Christ. Many times the church is asleep, lethargic, without courage to continue the mission of God . We are content with worship and Sunday meetings in the sanctuary. When the church does not have challenges that shake the foundations, something is wrong. Or self-absorbed people, or deaf and conformist. God gives up his inheritances, but he expects you to act to see him grow. When he gives visions and plans, the most sensible thing is to get going and be attentive to his actions. Joining God's plan is His will.

We become promise claimants and do not realize that God is already blessing us with tremendous favors. I personally believe that claiming promises from God is like telling the designer of the universe that he is doing things wrong, or that he could do better. More spiritual is the action of grace in all circumstances trusting that he is working on our behalf and exercising the control necessary for us to mature in our Christian life.

The tribes of Joseph (Manasseh and Ephraim) reproached Joshua: “- Why have you only given us part of the territory? We are numerous, and the Lord has richly blessed us ”(Joshua 17.12-14). The patient leader gave them the solution. They had to work and clear the mountains to appropriate the land and expand their territories. However, the complaints continued, and Josué, resigned, showed his mercy and piety and managed to encourage the dissatisfied tribes. This story is similar to ours. Our heavenly Father blesses us and we overlook the blessing by searching carnally, self-centered, for additional blessings in the web of false spirituality. And since we are not satisfied with what God provided, we began to design our own provision with the strategy of "I want more": more territory, more offerings, more leaders, more local, more audio equipment, more ministries.

Josué distributed the land as the Lord had indicated, but a year after starting the distribution to the tribes, 7 of them had not yet occupied the territory received as an inheritance. Joshua rebukes the careless and lazy who were content to be near the Tabernacle in full contemplation and did not do God's will to possess what was already theirs. We go back to the beginning: God's people need challenges, goals and visions that come from the heart of God. Selfish complaints and claims should be avoided. The church is the Gilgal to recover from spiritual battles and repair armor, not to sit on the laurels of God's glory. Humility must come to the fore when it comes to enjoying God's blessings. The ostentation debases and kills the good intentions of our creator to make our life a profitable pilgrimage for the good of his church and society.

Joshua, with the help of God, faced the difficulties and complaints of his brothers of faith. "Joshua made the lot there in the presence of the Lord, and divided the territories among the Israelites according to their tribal divisions" (Joshua 18.10).

Church, let's stay tuned! Let's meditate on the ways in which God is blessing us and beware of unnecessary complaints and claims. Let's act, let's work “as if we were seeing the invisible” without forgetting that we owe everything to him and putting our hope in Christ and only in him. Thanksgiving is the greatest antidote to blurring ourselves and focusing on the majesty of God.

God bless your Word!

Suggested Reading: Joshua 17-18