Grains of Rice in the Dirt
The Hidden Enemies
Today’s Verse and Thought
“Sing to the Lord with grateful praise; make music to our God on the harp.”(Psalm 147:7)
Children Begging for Bread
“I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread.”(Psalm 37:25)
For many of us in the US, this last week was a time of gathering together with people we love to share an indulgent meal (often followed by a tryptophan-induced nap). On Thanksgiving, many of us complain, “I ate too much,” and as the week goes on, we bemoan the thought of yet another leftover turkey meal.
But not everyone in our country can share this complaint. In fact, 20% of the children living in the US alone reportedly have food insecurity - despite the fact that the citizens of the US donate directly to many food programs, and also pay taxes that fund hundreds of hunger relief efforts both in our country and internationally.
“Whoever oppresses the poor to increase his own wealth, or gives to the rich, will only come to poverty.”(Proverbs 22:16)
Government Contributions to U.S. Hunger Relief:
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP):
SNAP, formerly known as food stamps, is the largest federal program aimed at reducing food insecurity in the U.S.
Annual Funding: In 2023, SNAP provided about $120 billion in benefits to more than 40 million Americans. This is the primary source of support for low-income individuals and families, helping them purchase food. These benefits work out to $3000 per person, per year - a monthly allocation of $250 per person. A family of four would receive $1,000 in food assistance.
National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and School Breakfast Program (SBP):
As of recent estimates, about 30 million students in the United States participate in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP), with a significant portion of them receiving free or reduced-price meals.
These federal programs provide free or reduced-price meals to millions of children in low-income families.
Annual Funding: In 2023, the federal government spent over $20 billion on the NSLP and SBP combined.
Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) Program:
WIC provides nutrition assistance to low-income pregnant women, infants, and children up to age five.
Annual Funding: In 2023, the WIC program received approximately $7 billion in funding
Food insecurity and funding allocations seem to have a severe imbalance.
Yet, with all this money allocated, “more than 47 million people in the US face hunger, including 1 in 5 children. Millions of people in the US don't have enough food to eat or don't have access to healthy food.”(source).
Ironically, we throw away so much food in our country, it’s truly remarkable. According to Recycle Track Systems (RTS).
“…food is the single largest component taking up space inside US landfills, making up 22 percent of municipal solid waste (MSW). All told, the amount of food wasted in America has an approximate value of nearly $218 billion – the equivalent of 130 billion meals.”(source).
Many years ago I read about a woman in Africa who walked through her local marketplace every day to gather grains of rice that had fallen in the dirt from merchant’s stalls. She couldn’t afford to buy food, so she resorted to the only food available.
And just today I read in the news about Sudan’s starving population.
“…every day after dawn, Fleg and other emaciated women from the camp make a two-hour trek to a forest to pick leaves on bushes. On a recent outing, several ate the leaves raw, to dull their hunger. Back at the camp, the women cooked the leaves, boiling them in a pot of water sprinkled with tamarind seeds to blunt the bitter taste.
For Fleg and the thousands of others in the camp, the barely edible mush is a daily staple. It isn’t enough. Some have starved to death, camp medics say. Fleg’s mother is one of them.
"I came here and found nothing to eat,” said Fleg. "There are days when I don’t know if I’m alive or dead.”(source)
But it’s hard to trust statistics
World Hunger Statistics 2020-2024 (source) seem to indicate that we in the US are statistically more food insecure than the rest of the world which seems surprising.
“12.8 percent, statistically significantly higher than the 10.2 percent in 2021 and the 10.5 percent in 2020 were food insecure at least some time during the year, including 5.1 percent with very low food security (statistically significantly higher than the 3.8 percent in 2021 and the 3.9 percent in 2020).”(source)
This figure comes from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), which annually reports on food security in the U.S. through its Food Security in the United States report.
The world hunger statistics are as follows (source):
Saying Grace at the table
“If I take part in the meal with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of something I thank God for?”(1 Corinthians 10:30)
I have known poverty and food insecurity. As close as Iv’e come to empty cupboards, I’ve never once known the level of need as the woman who scoured the dirt for rice.
When my kids were growing up, we tried to make it a habit to “say grace” when we sat down together for a meal. I wanted them to be grateful for the food that God had given us and to learn to thank Him for it. I personally understood how hard food could be to come by.
After the prayer, however, the complaints began. “I don’t like this.” “Do we have to have this again?” “This is gross.” Or I would have to look at unhappy faces as they picked at the plate making sure I knew they disapproved.
Sometimes there was just an outright refusal to eat, and it became more like a hostage negotiation. This turned into a battle of wills and tears over things like lima beans or leftovers, followed later by the dramatic cry - “I’m starving.” Then the falling on the floor happened, followed by the loud wailing due to such abject abuse. To this I would reply, “Well you should have eaten your dinner and no you can’t have any dessert.”
As some family members got older, I had to suffer through all the phases of food “requirements” that each adopted over the years. Between the vegan, vegetarian, pescatarian, vegan + bacon, gluten-free, dairy-free, fat-free, carnivore, and just selective-pickiness - I dreaded holidays because they required food. It became an impossible task as each year brought a new food demand.
Ungrateful and unholy
After the kids were grown, we got out of the habit of saying grace for several years. I personally came to the conclusion that I didn’t think that God was interested in hearing a hastily recited “thanks,” when in my heart it just felt like a routine repeat of the same words, rather than a sincere offering of gratitude.
“But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a form of godliness but denying its power.Have nothing to do with such people.”(2 Timothy 3:1-5)
One of the greatest enemies of our Christian faith is ingratitude
Food is my personal example of how I grew ungrateful and complacent. I lost that feeling of joy for being grateful for things that I later took for granted. It’s so easy to take our lives, and the things in it, for granted… until the day we lose it.
As a society, especially in the US, we teach our kids to be selfish, demanding, and ungrateful as we constantly give into them, rather than helping them understand that what we have is a gift.
The gift of food comes from the person who had to first grow or raise it; then all the people involved in the process of getting it to the stores; to the person who earned the money to buy it; to the one who shopped for the ingredients, planned meals, made it, and cleaned up afterwards.
But especially to God. Without Him, we would have none of it.
“For in him we live and move and have our being. As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring’ ” (Acts 17:28).
The lady desperately trying to collect enough tiny grains of dirty rice just to feed her children isn’t meant to create guilt. Sadly these tragedies are ever-present, and often due to greedy people and governments; money laundering through NGOs; and mismanagement. So it is hard to discern what the real truth is about these stories, especially when you consider how much money is given to “solve” this problem. But I digress.
“Whoever oppresses the poor to increase his own wealth, or gives to the rich, will only come to poverty.”(Proverbs 22:16)
Becoming sincerely grateful
“But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.”(1 Timothy 6:8)
In my case of not saying grace, the problem was me. It was my own ingratitude that made me realize just how ungrateful I had become. I took God’s gifts for granted. Every day He supplies me with the things I need to live.
Today when I eat, I say a true prayer of thanks - either silently or out loud - because when I sit down and see the provisions in front of me, I am so grateful. And ironically, having a heart of gratitude does so much for my overall view of many things in life.
When I look around at what I have, I am grateful, despite so many imperfections. In my flesh I could complain about the peeling paint, the broken tiles, and the bad carpet, but in my spirit, I try to think of all the things (and people) that I take for granted that if tomorrow, they were gone, how much would I complain then?
Living with a heart of gratitude is one of the greatest gifts God gives. When I start to complain about something, I try to remember how bad it could actually be. People suffer a lot in this life; myself included. But when things are easy, we tend to forget how bad it can be and we grow complacent.
“Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”(1 Thessalonians 5:18)
I never want to live ungrateful. Gratitude with contentment is such a beautiful gift that God has given to us. Feeling grateful seems to lift the day in joy. When I start to complain about my personal problems, it affects my whole persona. And there is nothing worse than an old lady constantly griping about stuff. It not only destroys personal joy, it robs others of it too.
“Better to live on a corner of the roof, than share a house with a quarrelsome wife.”(Proverbs 21:9)
The enemy of our souls wants us to be unhappy and focused on all the things wrong in our lives. Discontentment and complaining destroys families, and other relationships as well as our own spirit.
Gratitude, even for things we have come to expect as “normal,” such as a hot shower; bread on store shelves; the person who cleans your toilets…whatever normal routine things that are in your life are a source of immeasurable gratitude. It’s a good place to start giving thanks.
Today’s Question
Verses to Explore
“…always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”(Ephesians 5:20).
Listen to your father who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old. Buy truth, and do not sell it; buy wisdom, instruction, and understanding. The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice; he who fathers a wise son will be glad in him. Let your father and mother be glad; let her who bore you rejoice.”(Proverbs 23:22-25)
“I will give thanks to the Lord because of his righteousness; I will sing the praises of the name of the Lord Most High.”(Psalm 7:17)
“Those who sacrifice thank offerings honor me, and to the blameless I will show my salvation.”(Psalm 50:23)
“Praise the Lord. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.”(Psalm 106:1)
“But godliness with contentment is great gain.”(1 Timothy 6:6)
“Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”(Hebrews 18:5)
Today’s Prayer
Father I pray that I always have a grateful heart. I pray that I never take things for granted. I don’t expect perfection in people or things in order to be thankful. Today I am grateful for all I have - my family, my husband, my home, and all that you have provided for me. But I am especially grateful for you. I know that without you, all of these things are temporary and will be gone, but you have given us a future that will be better than anything we have suffered here.
We have such a great hope in front of us. Like Paul, I count it all for nothing compared to the prize that you have set before me. How can I ever possibly complain? Thank you Father for my life. Thank you for all the lessons I have learned through the hard things. I pray for all of us today to reset our attitudes and stop complaining. I pray that we can have grateful hearts that are filled with joy. I pray that we learn to see our life from a new and purposeful perspective of gratitude. Today, in all my imperfections, I start by thanking you for everything you have given me. May all of our lives bring you glory and honor every day. Amen.❤️