Appreciate What God has Done and Provided

Haggai 1: 5-6 Now this is what the LORD Almighty says: "Give careful thought to your ways. You have planted much, but have harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it."

It is a sad state of the human condition to never feel truly satisfied. It seems that we are constantly looking at what others have and wanting more of what we feel we lack. This stems from the infrequency of which we examine what we do have. It is a certain lack of appreciation of what God has already provided for us that leads us to want more than He has given us. We can easily forget the lessons from the Apostle Paul in his letter to the Church at Philippi:

And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19

We can forget because we are covetous by nature. We go beyond what we need and instead demand what we want; what we desire. Perhaps the greatest story of this covetousness comes from the life of King David, described as a man after God's heart. In the book of 2Samuel we see David rise to the throne of Israel. God has bestowed upon him a great promise that his house and kingdom will endure forever. David has one successful military campaign after another and had all that he could have wanted. Until he saw the one thing he could not have, Bathsheba. One evening the bible tells us, David saw Bathsheba bathing. When he sought to find out who she was, he discovered she was married to Uriah the Hittite. Forgetting all that God had provided already for him and everything he had, David took Bathsheba anyway and slept with her. His sin of covetousness gave way to adultery. When he discovered that Bathsheba was pregnant, he tried to cover his sin up. He tried to trick Uriah into sleeping with Bathsheba so that he would assume the baby was his (Uriah was off fighting in war). When Uriah refused because he felt it would be wrong while his comrades were still fighting the war, David tried to get him drunk to succumb, but to no avail. When all else failed, David instead sought to cover his sin up be eliminating Uriah the Hittite. His sin of covetousness gave way to adultery, which now gave way to murder. He had Uriah placed on the front line of fighting, where soon he would fall in combat. David then took Bathsheba to be his own wife.

David had everything he could have needed. He was king, well respected, mighty in battle, and rich beyond measure. Yet when he saw something he wanted but could not have, he crossed the line. Everything God had already provided for him was not enough anymore. The result of this sin would be the undoing of David's kingdom. God would send the Prophet Nathan to tell David a story about a poor man who only had one little ewe lamb which he had raised as part of his family. In this story there was also a rich man that had many sheep and cattle but when a traveler came to visit, the rich man killed the poor man's little ewe lamb to present to the traveler instead of one of the many of his flock. The bible tells us that David burned with anger over this rich man because he had no pity and here is the response of the Prophet Nathan:

Then Nathan said to David, "You are the man! This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 'I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. I gave your master's house to you, and your master's wives into your arms. I gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more. Why did you despise the word of the LORD by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.' - 2Samuel 12: 7-10

Note what God is saying to David first. He is reminding him all that He had done for him. He anointed him King, delivered him from the hands of Saul, gave him his masters house and wives, and even the very house of Israel and Judah. Then God amazingly says, "If all this had been too little, I would have given you even more!" Can you imagine beloved? That is what God is saying to us today as well. Look at all that I have given you already and if that is still too little, I will give you even more!

God forgave David's sin but there would be a price to pay. Calamity would always come against David from within. His own son would war against him and the child of David and Bathsheba would be stricken ill and die. This same problem would afflict David's son Solomon as well. King Solomon was considered the wisest king ever. People would come from all over the known world to hear his counsel. He was rich beyond his dreams and could have had anything he wanted. God had warned him though to not take foreign wives who would lead him away from Him. Solomon did not concentrate on all God had provided for him though and took hundreds of foreign wives. As God had warned, they led Solomon away from the Lord.

The LORD became angry with Solomon because his heart had turned away from the LORD, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice. Although he had forbidden Solomon to follow other gods, Solomon did not keep the LORD's command. So the LORD said to Solomon, "Since this is your attitude and you have not kept my covenant and my decrees, which I commanded you, I will most certainly tear the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your subordinates. Nevertheless, for the sake of David your father, I will not do it during your lifetime. I will tear it out of the hand of your son. Yet I will not tear the whole kingdom from him, but will give him one tribe for the sake of David my servant and for the sake of Jerusalem, which I have chosen." 1Kings 11: 9-13

It is always the forbidden fruit we seem to be so drawn to. In the Garden of Eden, God had given Adam and Eve complete freedom to eat from any tree, except one. Take note of how the bible describes the decision to eat the forbidden fruit:

When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Genesis 3: 6

She saw the fruit was good for food, despite the fact that God had already provided more then they could have needed through the other trees in the garden. It is not like they were starving and needed to eat of this fruit. She also saw it was "pleasing to the eye." I am sure that is how David would have described Bathsheba as well. Because it was so esthetically pleasing, it made her forget that she did not necessarily need it; just that she wanted it. Lastly, she saw that it was desirable for gaining wisdom. This is what happens when we wander away from the direction of God in pursuit of our own wisdom. The Prophet Daniel said of God in prayer:

He changes times and seasons; he sets up kings and deposes them. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning. Daniel 2: 21

And what does the bible remind us the very beginning of wisdom beloved?

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding. To him belongs eternal praise. Psalm 111:10

God gives wisdom to those who are wise; to those who fear Him. Eve had all the wisdom she needed because God had told them specifically do not eat from that tree. Yet it was pleasing to her eye, appeared good for food, and she sought wisdom above the fear of the Lord. She forgot all that she had and pursued the one thing she was told she could not have. Likewise Kings David and Solomon had everything they could have desired and God Himself had even said He would have given more if they would have just asked. But they didn't ask. They coveted and they took what they wanted. In doing so they showed that they did not appreciate what they already had been given by God. Sometimes we can fall into the same trap. We can see what others have and think that we should have it too. We can even reject what God has provided, in search of something else we have created in our hearts. God does nothing by accident beloved. Things and people are brought into our lives for a reason. We ought to be thankful for what God has seen fit to provide for us and not be envious of what we think we need or be ruled by our emotions, which are fleeting in the face of the wisdom of God almighty. God already knows what we need and he will continue to provide as long as we continue to show wisdom in fearing Him and appreciation for all that He has provided for us.

Just look at the key verse from the Prophet Haggai. It can so easily describe us sometimes. We can eat but still be hungry for what we have not. We can drink but not feel quenched. We can put clothes on but not feel warm. We can work but feel empty in our toil. God is reminding us today to give careful thought to our ways. There has to be a balance. We must plant and harvest. We must appreciate and desire. Take a moment today to take inventory of all God has given you and give thanks. When those moments come when we feel ourselves coveting it will do us well to remember all that He has provided for us already. God knows your needs beloved and He has already provided for them. We just have to make sure that we have accepted what He has provided and appreciate them all the more.

Anthony Wade September 5, 2008