Is the Grass Really Greener?

Is grass really greener on the other side? It seems I get a cow that thinks so once in a while as she leans on the fence. Then oh how happy she seems when a wire breaks and the old girl gets out on the other side where she is convinced the grass is greener. As I put her back and fix the fence, I ponder why that perception exists. But then I wondered how many times I have thought that the grass is greener on the other side. Seeking something better than what I already have. A better job. Nicer car. Bigger house. Warmer climate. More money.

Be Satisfied With What You Have

That is exactly what the Hebrew writer was addressing. “Don’t love money; be satisfied with what you have. For God has said, ‘I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.’”  Hebrews 13:5. Then the Apostle Paul writes in Philippians 4:11, “For I have learned to be satisfied with what I have.” This is a lesson I need to learn, maybe you do as well. He’s not saying that I should never want more than I have. It’s that I need to learn to be satisfied with what I do have. If I’m constantly looking for greener grass, I will miss the lesson of contentment and fail to appreciate what God has given me.

Count Your Blessings

That is to say when we don’t appreciate something, we don’t value it. If we don’t value it, we take it for granted. God blesses us daily with good things that we look right past because of the temptation to want more than the daily bread He’s given us. I have been told that the grass is always greener where you water it. So, the best way to make the grass greener where you are standing is to give thanks to God for what you do have. Everything we have is a gift of God and it helps to be reminded of this daily. Otherwise, like the old cow, the temptations of the world just might find us leaning on the fence. That thankfulness keeps our hearts in the right relationship to the giver of all good gifts. “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” (James 1:17).

Give Thanks To God

Indeed, we can have thankful hearts toward God even when we do not feel thankful for the circumstance. We can grieve and still be thankful. We can hurt and still be thankful. Yes we can be angry at sin and still be thankful toward God. That is what the Bible calls a “sacrifice of praise” (Hebrews 13:15). Giving thanks to God keeps our hearts in a right relationship with Him and saves us from a host of harmful emotions and attitudes that will rob us of the peace God wants us to experience, (Philippians 4:6-7). Now look again at the grass on the other side. Is it greener? Dear Lord, help me water the grass I am standing on by giving you the thanks you so graciously deserve. Amen.