Thanks Living: Entitlement

Good and upright is the Lord; Therefore He teaches sinners in the way. Psalm 25:8

Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him! Psalm 34:8

"We must learn to trust God, not live with a sense of entitlement." (The Gospel Project)

When I started studying "Thanks Living", I realized that it's easier to say "thanks" for things, but a bit more difficult to thank God for WHO He is. Not receiving anything, just thanks for God Himself. 

I have to say that God has blessed me abundantly. And often people wonder how I can give praise to God, when I live in chronic pain. My reply is, "How could I NOT?!!" My pain level doesn't change WHO God is. My pain level doesn't make God stop being good. My pain level doesn't make God unfaithful. God cannot change. He is good. He is faithful. Period. 

"But if God was a good God, then He'd heal you." Really??!!! Who am I to tell God, the Creator of all, what He should do? Just because I would like it, doesn't mean it's best in God's plan. From God's perspective, my chronic pain is a good thing—as it is being used to accomplish His will. 

God is good. And He is a good God! Just because God has unlimited resources, doesn't mean that He has to give them to me. Entitlement is a dangerous mindset. When we start to think that we deserve something—we forget that what we actually deserve is punishment for our sin. Only by the grace of God and His provision of Jesus as the sacrifice for our sin, are we saved from eternal damnation. 

Thanks Living, has to begin with a solid understanding of Who God is, and that God does not "owe me anything." I am to give thanks to God for Who He is. I am to give thanks to God because He is good. I am to give thanks to God because He is faithful. God can be none other than Who He is! 

As I learn to trust God and understand that He is good — then my mind and heart will begin to develop a sense of Thanks Living, based on Who God is, not on a sense of entitlement.