One day, recently, I let myself become so upset by my circumstances, that I made a whole list of things I was “tired of”. Not being able to do this or that, not having enough money for this or that, not having a husband who remembers to do this or that . . . As I was writing my list, however, the Lord helped me to see that for each thing I was writing down, there was some encouragement from His Word to combat the complaint I was recording! SMILE! I looked up each verse that came to my mind, and wrote it underneath the "tired of" it applied to. This exercise was such a blessing to me! Exodus 17:7 tells us, “And he called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the LORD, saying, Is the LORD among us, or not?” We can feel exactly the same way in our daily lives, but the answer is, YES, the Lord IS with us! He has not left us nor forsaken us! And we have no earthly reason to complain!
Philippians 2:14-16 commands us to, “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; Holding forth the word of life . . .” If we are murmuring, complaining, and arguing, we are not having a good Christian testimony to the lost world around us. We are to be LIGHTS - not complaining little dark spots! We have the hope of God’s Word – the hope of eternal life – to share with others! Will it look at all like what we say is true, if we are gloomy and complaining all the time?!
In Numbers chapter 14, we see that the majority of the Israelites did not even get to go into the Promised Land because of their murmurings! They gave up the land “flowing with milk and honey” for the sake of complaining when times were hard. God does not desire His children to complain and grumble through difficulties! He brings us through difficult times, so that we might learn to TRUST HIM MORE! Again and again, God provided for the Israelites as they traveled those 40 years in the wilderness. He gave them food and water, and even kept the soles of their shoes from wearing thin, but yet, they still complained against Him. Psalm 106:21, 24-25 “They forgat God their saviour, which had done great things in Egypt . . . Yea, they despised the pleasant land, they believed not his word: But murmured in their tents, and hearkened not unto the voice of the LORD.” Aren’t we often guilty of doing the very same? Of forgetting the many ways God has taken care of us, and of murmuring against Him?
A thankfulness tool that has helped me in this journey of being a stay-at-home-mom has been a “Weekly To-Do Chart”. On the left is my list of household duties that need to get done within the course of a week, and on the right is a large bubble entitled “Special Moments”. That “Special Moments” bubble is for me to record the blessings and the happy little moments that occur during those 7 days of my existence. It helps me to see, over and over again, that a 7-day week is NOT just mundane dishes, laundry, sweeping, etc. God sprinkles “Special Moments” into every week, if I’ll only look for them! Husband comes home from work early, Baby discovers her toes for the first time, friends invite us out to eat with them . . . And I see each week that GOD IS SO GOOD TO ME! I Thessalonians 5:16-19 tells God’s people to, “Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. Quench not the Spirit.” Don’t quench the working of the Holy Spirit in your life by becoming a complainer! God wants each of us to rejoice, pray, and be a thankful woman after His own heart!
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