I Deserve It!

So many times I hear this statement “I Deserve It!” So, what do you deserve? I heard many say, “I deserve to be happy, rich, attractive, healthy or basically to have a better life.” There is no place ever written in stone that says we deserve any of these things and to demand this is as absurd as the statement itself. So, do you deserve to be treated well or do you deserve to be treated badly? Neither… do we deserve anything!

If you live your life with the “I deserve it” mentality you are headed for many disappointments and pains. To find just one picture of our cats that didn’t have the “I deserve it” look wasn’t easy. To say we deserve something is affiliated with having great expectations. Having great expectations may turn out the way we want, but it could turn out just the opposite as well. You may be able to understand this better if you have kids.

My sister has a saying on her refrigerator that says, “If everyone is not meeting your expectations, then maybe your expectations are too high.” How many times has the father wanted his musical son to be the big football player and the mother wanted football player to be the great musician. I’ve seen so many hurt people because life wasn’t what they expected or bargained for.

I’ve heard many say, “I deserve a better marriage.” So I tell them to get with it and start having one. If you are waiting for someone to give you what you think you deserve, then you have a long wait coming because it will never come or they may give you what they think you deserve and this may not be so good. If you are waiting for someone to make you happy, you have a long wait coming for that too.

I’m not talking about things you earn. If you work for someone with a promised wage, then this is something you earned, not deserved. Even then there are no guarantees that you will get this wage. I’ve been there several times.

Let’s suppose I came to your house everyday at 10:00am and handed you a $5.00 bill. At first you would probably reject it, but I insisted and you took because there were no strings attached. The next day I did the same thing again. I did this everyday for the next 2 months. It would get to a point that you would be waiting at the door every morning at 10:00. Then after 2 months I started coming a few minutes later. One day at 10:10 and the next at 10:15 and eventually I didn’t show up until 11:00. Chances are I would receive a tongue lashing for being late. Then eventually I quit coming completely. Not only would you get mad, but you would come to the decision that this was something you deserved when at first you were grateful and undeserving.

I would assume no one has actually ever done this for you in this manner, but hasn’t God done something similar for all of us. He allowed me to have a Dad for 19 years and took him home. I could either be grateful for having a Dad for 19 years or bitter and angry at God for taking him so soon and the 29 years I haven’t had him. Have you lost a job that you may have had for 20 years, but you turned your back on God because you felt you deserved more and wasn’t grateful for the 20 you had. Have you lost something else precious to you like the life a child, friend, parent or a spouse? Were you grateful for the time you had together or angry for losing them?

I heard once that everything this side of hell is grace because this is what we really deserved. I know I don’t deserve heaven, but God and His grace and love opened a door so that I may receive it. Every breath you take is another chance God has given us to accept His love and salvation.