We often use the old cliché, “tied up in knots,” to express our anxiety or confusion. How often have you said something like, “My stomach is tied up in knots,” or “She is tied up in knots over something.” Well, this week I want to talk about getting rid of the “knots” in our lives. 

 

All too often we use these “knots” as excuses or explanations for something that we should change. We need to untie some of these “knots” that keep our minds and our hearts in bondage. Often they are “knots” of our own wrong thinking, “knots” that we’ve allowed to burrow deep into our souls and become permanent residents there.

 

For example, we get all tied up in the have nots. How often do you focus on what you don’t have instead of being thankful for what you do have? Having recently returned from a trip to Kenya where I visited in the homes of women who truly have almost nothing of this world’s goods, I was again amazed at their contentment, their joy in the midst of what we would call deep poverty. We classify them as the have nots of this world, and yet they displayed more contentment and purpose in life than lots of us do here where our lives are crowded with stuff.

 

One of our enemy’s most effective weapons against us is to make us discontented with what we have, so that our lives become focused on trying to get what we think we must have in order to be happy and complete. The Apostle Paul said he had learned to be content, whatever his circumstances. When you and I are tied up in the have nots of our lives, it’s because we haven’t learned to be content.

 

Have you been thinking that you have not the job you want, and so you’ve become discontented with your job, which almost always leads to lack of excellence in your work habits? Maybe you’re thinking that you have not the mate you want, and you’re desperately looking for that mate who is going to make your life complete—or so you think. Or could it be you have a mate, but you have not the kind of mate you want, and so you keep trying to change that person, which, of course, is an exercise in futility.

 

When was the last time you thanked God that you have a job? Have you ever thought about the good things you have because you’re single? Do you ever take time to appreciate the positive things about your mate—or your boss or your co-worker—fill in the blank?

 

If you’re tied up in the have nots, the way to be set free is to develop a thankful attitude. To start each day with a focus on being thankful and expressing thanks every chance you get. You must determine to do it, whether you feel like it or not. Just start saying, “Thank you, Jesus,” at every point in your day—for the sunshine, for safety, for good health. There is great power in being a thankful person, and it will set you free from the have nots!