Dear Friends,
Somebody has said on the seventh day
God rested and on the 8th day He started answering complaints.
Yes, there is a whole lot of complaining
going on these days.
It has been a tough year and many of
us are on edge. We want things to be different but complaining is not the best
solution for our situation. Like rocking in a rocking chair; it gives us
something to do, but we won't get us anywhere.
There is a story about a monk in a
monastery. In his particular order, all the monks were required to take a vow
of silence. But at the end of the year each monk was allowed two words that
could be spoken to the Holy Father. At the end of the first year, the Father
asked the monk what he had to say. The new monk’s reply was ‘Hard bed.’
At the end of the second year, the
new monk returned and again was asked what two words he would speak. He
replied, ‘Bad food.’
The Holy Father nodded and sent him
on his way again. At the end of the third year, when the new monk returned and
was asked what two words he had to say, he spoke up immediately and said, ‘I
quit.’ To which the father nodded and said, “No, wonder, all you do is
complain, complain, complain.”
No one likes a complainer. Your
family and friends don’t like your complaining! But more importantly, God does
not like your complaining, even though He is the Perfect Listener.
In His Word we read, “Do everything
without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure,
children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which
you shine like stars in the universe” (Philippians 2:14-15).
Too often we are like the
duffer pictured in a cartoon who drives his tee shot into a tree. The
ball then caroms off the tree to hit a large stone, then, ricochets against a
post, and finally bounces to the edge of the green. “Can you beat that,” the
duffer complains, "I left myself a long put.”
If you received a nickel every time you
said, “thanks” and paid a nickel for every time you complained, would you be
richer or poorer?
If anyone had reason to complain
about their circumstances, it was certainly the Apostle Paul and his
friend Silas. They were flogged and thrown into prison unjustly. Though Roman
citizens, they were denied their civil rights. Yet despite their abusive
treatment you find no hint of anger or vengeance at in their attitude toward
their captors. Rather than seething, they are singing, rather than grumbling
they are gracious, rather than murmuring about their lives, they are magnifying
their Lord.
How do we respond to adverse
circumstances? Do we murmur and complain like those Israelites in the
wilderness, or does gratitude replace our grumbling?
When I think of what Paul went
through and realize the way he responded, all I can do is say “shame on me,
Tom, for responding the way I often do when things don’t go my way.”
I hope a little levity will encourage
you to adopt a more gracious perspective toward the challenges you face or the
situations you confront.
Have a great weekend, and be sure and
check your pockets on Monday to see if you might be just a little richer?
Make it a great weekend
Yours in faith and friendship,
Tom
2 Peter 1:2
No comments:
Post a Comment