Lemons

Seeking the Kingdom first, going after the promises God has made to us, pursuing ‘more’, are all fundamentally based on our current position, our current reality not being enough.

In the process of seeking ‘more’, we can forget that one of the keys to breakthrough is the simple act of gratitude.

I know it is a little cliché but it is our attitude, not our aptitude that is fundamentally the key to breakthrough. If I can rewrite a well-known scripture: if you are not grateful for what you have been given, how will you be grateful for the ‘more’?

I have preached that Godliness with contentment is a great gain but contentment cannot be confused with apathy. In our drive to see all of God’s promises come true, we cannot do it from a place of discontent. It must be from a place of contentment and gratitude for what we are, what we have right now.

I have had this little thing stir inside me over the phrase ‘if life gives you lemons, make lemonade’. The problem is life has not given me sugar and water with those lemons, it has just given me just lemons.

I wonder how many breakthroughs we can see if we learn to thrive on lemons and not try to make them into something else? What does it look like if we start having an attitude that says when life gives me lemons, I will be thankful for those lemons. Those lemons are a launching pad for the ‘more’. I will learn to get my nutrition from the lemons and become stronger than I would otherwise. I will use the setbacks to become stronger, ever grateful that my God has supplied all my needs and that I lack for nothing. He withholds no good thing from me and delights to give me the Kingdom. These lemons have come at the right time to build my stamina and strength for all I need to be and all I will become.

Gratitude is not giving thanks for the sickness, the relational struggles, the financial setbacks, but it is saying that God is positioning me to be satisfied in the midst of the lemons; that I will use it as an opportunity to become stronger and see the goodness of God in the land of the living, right where I am at.

Let’s believe that God desires more for us, but remain grateful for all He has done to get us where we are today in preparation for tomorrow.

Ian