Sermon Central
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The Embarrassing Whine Of The Ungrateful Believer Series
Contributed by Jim Butcher on May 23, 2023 (message contributor)
Summary: Jacob makes a striking (and embarrassing) statement in his audience with Pharaoh: "my years have been few and difficult." Amid all the good things God has given him, what can we learn from his lack of gratitude?
- In our lives, what do we look at? Do we dwell on our problems and our struggles? Or do we focus on the blessings God has given?
- I’m not arguing here that we should put on rose-colored glasses and pretend that our life is without problems. No, we’ve all got our problems. But it is easy to get so focused on the negative that we lose sight of the good things God has given us.
- Here in America, just the everyday things that we take for granted would be other people’s best day of their lives: I wake up in an air-conditioned house, I have indoor plumbing, I have plenty of food to eat, I have a choice of clothes to wear, I am safe in my town, I have a job that pays my bills, etc. Just those things all by themselves would make us the richest person in any town in the world 200 years ago. And we take them for granted.
2. COMPARISON IS THE ENEMY OF JOY.
- Genesis 47:9b.
- I noted a moment ago that Jacob called his 130 years of life “few.” That, of course, is inaccurate. That’s a good healthy lifespan for almost anyone, to say the least!
- So why did he say that? One reason might be that his father and grandfather lived longer lives that 130 years. So when he compared, he minimized what he had.
- I really like putting it the way I heard someone say it a while back: “Comparison is the enemy of joy.”
- This is so true. The good things we have are far more difficult to enjoy when we spend our time focusing on what others have.
- The most potent example I can think of today is social media. Everyone posts their wins and hides their struggles. Then we scroll and feel like everyone else has their life all together and we’re the only ones with doubts and darkness. Or we see things going pretty well in our lives but then we see a post that someone else is experiencing more blessings on that issue than we are and then we get depressed that we don’t have everything they do.
- All of this makes us lack gratitude for the blessings that we are receiving.
3. OUR INGRATITUDE DAMPENS OUR WITNESS.
- Genesis 47:10.
- Verse 10 just seems so ironic to me. After having just complained and whined, then Jacob gives a blessing to Pharaoh.
- I’m not sure Pharaoh wanted that blessing.
- The ingratitude that Jacob showed didn’t exactly make him a shining light.
- Today, when we gripe and complain and fuss and whine, then turn around and try to witness, why would anyone want to listen to us?
- I am not arguing that we need to be Pollyannaish and just pretend our lives are perfect. There is certainly power in acknowledging to those looking at our lives that we have struggles and difficulties. It’s helps them to know that we’re real people.
- But when we in one breath say, “My life stinks, and then “God is good,” that’s not a witness that resonates.
