August 15, 2002
Subject: Stop Complaining
Philippians 2:14-15 "Do all things without murmurings and disputings; That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world.”
When I was a young kid, I was a big bread eater at home, and actually I still am, but back in those days, if the bread box was empty, I made sure everyone knew it and if there was anything that would get me complaining and murmuring, that was it. Fast forward – these days working in Washington has become quite a bear. The traffic has only gotten worse since 9/11 and like everywhere else, security can cause a lot of hassles whether you’re flying or just renting a car. What about the weather up here? It’s been so hot. It was one hundred degrees on the day before yesterday and almost the same again today. My bills are all due, my boss doesn’t communicate well and the plumber charged $50 just to show up and then told me it would be another $450 just to fix the garbage disposal.
Does this sound familiar? I know it does to me. These are all things that I’ve complained
about at one time or another in the last couple of months. While a lot of it was done in a “talk to
myself” mode, a lot of it wasn’t. As I
thought about it, what does that say about God? Surely it says something if I’m His child. Don’t we often characterize parents by the
actions of their children? Well as believers
we know better than to characterize God based on our human frailties, but what
about unbelievers? Do they know
better? Of course they don’t. That’s why as soon as you see a famous
Christian figure slip, the world says, “I told you so.” We are to be lights shining in this dark
world and when we murmur and complain about things, our light is quite dim. The
passage above says do “all” things without murmurings and disputings. Verse 13 of the passage says “for it is God
which worketh in you both to will and do of his good pleasure.” Therefore what do we have to complain
about. Today I will make a concerted
effort not to complain and instead, simply shine.
Carlen
