Adjusting the Attitude

"Then they despised the pleasant land;
    they did not believe his promise.
They grumbled in their tents
    and did not obey the Lord."
Psalm 106:24&25

God had done amazing things when he delivered the Israelites from Egypt. He had caused Pharaoh to let them go, parted the Red Sea for them to cross, drowned all of the Egyptian army in the waters, fed them with manna, provided water, and guided them. But after they had received the promised land, they still were angry at God because there were other nations in the land. They had to take it from them. So the promise God had given them didn't look as good as they had hoped. So they responded in a negative way. I wonder if we act the same way toward God sometimes?
    The Israelites despised the promised land. When we receive a promise from God and it comes to fulfillment, it sometimes looks a lot different than what we were expecting. But it remains the promise of God. If we despise it, we are taking up an offense against God. We may lose sight of the fact that God's will is always perfect, ours is not. These two wills collide and we don't necessarily get our own way. The correct response is to submit to God's will and not despise it. If the Israelites would have done this, they would have been spared much grief. 
    Equally as bad, the Israelites did not believe the promise of God, even though he had done exactly what he had said. They were given the land. But it seems that they expected it to be handed to them with no effort on their parts. When they saw the formidable armies they would have to defeat, they thought God had backed out on his promise. They were blind to the fact that they were already living within the promise. All of us have promises from God. We wait for them and when they come, we may say, "Surely this is not the promise God made." By this, we are telling God that we don't believe him. In effect, we are calling him a liar. But his promises are true and his will is perfect. 
    Like the Israelites, we grumble and disobey God. What if we changed our attitude toward God? What if we didn't take offense at him? What if we received his promises with joy and praised him for them? I am feeling the need to check my attitude toward God. I need to renew my faith in his promises. I need to accept his will with joy and submit to his plan for my life. I think that this will spare me much pain and hardship. Maybe you find yourself living with a bad attitude toward God. If so, it's simply a matter of changing your mind about him, submitting to him, and praising him for all he has done for you. When you reflect on what he has done and the promises he has kept, the result can only be thankfulness and praise for God. We all might need an attitude adjustment.