Making God Happy

Today I found something interesting in I Corinthians 10, where Paul is writing warnings to the Corinthian church against several sins for which God destroyed the Israelites in their wanderings in the wilderness after leaving Egypt on their way to the Promised Land. Included among these are the usual suspects of lust, idolatry, sexual immorality and provoking God--and grumbling. It was striking to me that Paul, and God, seem to give the same weight to complaining that they give to the traditionally more "serious" sins, so I decided to look into it.

Of course, the principle force behind complaining is ingratitude, which is rooted in pride, the original sin. But all that is just academic until we see the effect that ingratitude has on God's heart. Even a quick scan of the verses in Nave's Topical Bible under ingratitude give a heart-wrenching picture of God's anguish over Israel's forgetfulness and rejection of Him, in spite of all His miracles and all His blessing on their behalf. Can you hear it in His words in Hosea 11:1-4 below?

When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son. But the more I called Israel, the further they went from me. They sacrificed to the Baals and they burned incense to images. It was I who taught Ephraim to walk, taking them by the arms; but they did not realize it was I who healed them. I led them with cords of human kindness, with ties of love; I lifted the yoke from their neck and bent down to feed them.

Then in Hosea 13:6 the Lord sums it up tersely:

When I fed them, they were satisfied; when they were satisfied, they became proud; then they forgot me.

It's easy to wonder how the Israelites could have been so foolish and obtuse to grieve the Lord in that way after all the stunning miracles He performed on their behalf. Yet the miracle of the new heart and changed life that He has given each of us as believers is so much greater! The fact that He changes us into His image from glory to glory is astounding. And what about the way He orders our lives and brings His purposes to pass in and through us with wisdom that absolutely confounds us? Think of the big miracles of provision we've all experienced at times, or the small, intimate ways He lets us know that we are on His mind. Consider the fact the most of us have never had to worry whether there would be food to eat or a roof over our heads tomorrow. Is there anyone reading this who, if in dire trouble or need, does not have someone he or she could call on for help?

We Americans are probably the most blessed people in the world, and yet often the least grateful. Taking time to consider all these things, and other blessings that come to mind, will cure ingratitude and grumbling. I, for one, do not want to grieve God's heart by being ungrateful, complaining, proud, or self-sufficient--sins as ugly as idolatry or immorality. I want to begin and end every day by thanking and praising God for all He's done in my life, remembering always that "every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the father of heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows" (James 1:17). In so doing, I want to bring Him joy instead of grief. What else could I do for a God who has done so much for me?