Finally, the list on killing complaining!

         At long last, here's John Piper's list of eleven ways to kill complaining (along with a bit of my commentary).

         1. Remember daily that my body is dying but my mind must--and can be!--renewed. (II Cor.4:16-18

         2. Take purposeful steps to keep my mind pure. (Mt.5:27-29)

         3. Make God the gladness of all my joys. (Ps.43:4)
                In what are we anchoring our thoughts? Are we thinking on an earthly level or heavenly one?  Oh, how I need this daily reminder to "set my mind on things above." Every time my mindset falls downward and starts fixating on things around me--or worse, on me, myself, and I--well, let's just say it ain't pretty! It's nothing but a negative attitudinal death spiral.

         4. See other Jesus followers as I will see them in heaven. (Lk 16:22-23)
              In other words, those all around us are glorious, eternal beings!  Every person we meet today is an God-crafted eternal being.  So stop judging them harshly or criticizing them or gossiping about them or fixating on their weaknesses.  Because guess what?  Each of us is a mass of weaknesses, foolishness, and inconsistencies! (Or at least, I sure am!)  Yet, Christ died for us--and for them--and He has clothed us with His righteousness and glory.  Maybe nobody can see it yet, but they will one day, praise God!

         5. Remember my spiritual health can be choked out. (Lk 8:14)
                How?  By wrong priorities, too much preoccupation with stuff, busyness, pride, etc.

         6. Ponder what God delights in.
                Think about the good, the pure, the lovely, the admirable, etc. (Phil.4:8)

         7. Be friends with spiritually-minded people. (Prov.13:20)
                "Bad company corrupts good character." (I Cor.15:33)  The reverse is also true.  We need spiritually-minded friends to encourage and strengthen us in the spiritual battle of life. Oh how thankful I am for my friends and family!  What a miracle that they put up with me! Might I be a source of godly encouragement and unconditional love to them.

         8. Ask God for spiritual satisfaction.  (Ps.90:14)
                 Goodness, this is so practical yet I'd never thought of it before!  Ask the Lord at the beginning of each day to be fully satisfied in Him. If I'm satisfied in Him, then I won't be searching for satisfaction in things like stuff or success or security or whatever!

          9. Remember, I've died with Christ and have crucified my flesh. (Gal.5:24)

         10. Accept God's appointed suffering as disciple to bring about a greater spiritual reality. (Heb.12:7-11)

         11. Realize that unbelievers are looking for authentic people.
                    Do you believe what you say you believe and is that reflected in how you handle disappointments, crises and the general problems of life?  Oh my, that's convicting!  One thing's for sure--I absolutely cannot do that in my own strength.  It must be a work of the Holy Spirit. Might we daily pray that His Spirit within us would equip and empower us to live out the Truth that we profess and believe.

         Hope that helps you kill--or if you're like me, at least seriously wound!--complaining in your life. Might we ask the Holy Spirit to help and empower us each day to clobber complaining and instead to be women and men fully satisfied in Him and overflowing with gratitude, joy, and love for both God and man.
          To God be the glory.
       

Complaining--while writing about not complaining!

     
                 Real life lesson on complaining--Part 1:
       Okay, I'm sitting here at the Raleigh Durham Airport waiting...praying...waiting...praying.   And trying hard not to fall into the complaining mode.  The Lord clearly has a sense of humor.  Wonder if He's saying, "Alrighty then.  She said she's learning about not complaining.  She said she's going to write about how to battle complaining.  How about we give her a golden opportunity to put all that theology into practice?" (Imagine a smiling, winking face placed here. God's smiling emoji, not mine.)
        Let me explain.  I was supposed to fly to NYC to meet our girls for a fun weekend in the big city.  But instead, I'm staring at airport Departure signs that say all the afternoon and evening flights to Laguardia are cancelled, except one.  That one lone flight, praise God, is mine. But before I start praising too exuberantly, I'm brought up short by the lady at the desk saying, "Well your flight may be cancelled as well. We don't know anything yet..."  Apparently the airport up there is a mess due to fog, rain, and thunderstorms. But hey, otherwise, it sounds like a lovely day in New York.  Oh mercy.          So, here goes--Operation No Complaining now being put into effect!  Well, let me rephrase that--attempting, tentatively, at least for the moment, put into effect the No Complaining policy.  (Hey,we're all works in progress right?!)
        Here's the list I mentioned in the blog yesterday that our minister recently shared.  It's eleven ways to battle complaining from John Piper....

                 Real life lesson on complaining--Part 2:
        Not so fast! It's now three days since I wrote the above, and I'm back in the airport waiting--only this time it's Laguardia in New York. This time I'm waiting to go back to home sweet home.  As Paul Harvey used to say, here's "the rest of the story."
        Right as I prepared to share Piper's pearls of wisdom, we got word that we would, in fact, be flying to New York.  Yahoo!
        Uhh, actually not yet.  We boarded and finally taxied out to the runway.  But then the pilot announced that there were thunderstorms in Laguardia, and the airport had just closed. Thus, he said we'd shut down the engines and wait on the runway to see if Laguardia reopened.  We waited for two hours. Whew!  Eventually the pilot came back on the intercom and informed us that Laguardia had just reopened.  Yahoo!...but now we were low on fuel so we'd first have to go back to the terminal and refuel before trying to fly out.  I'm all in favor of having plenty of fuel so despite the delay, that sounded like a good idea to me.
        And more great news--we refueled and taxied out to the runway again. Things were looking up...until the pilot came on again and said now thunderstorms had rolled into Raleigh. We'd have to wait on the runway till they passed.  We were starting to feel a bit more desperate, so suddenly thunderstorms sounded slightly less threatening than they usually would have.  We're all thinking--"Thunderstorms, smunderstorms. I'm sure we'll be fine.  Let's fly already!!"  (Waiting and impatience not only exponentially increases the likelihood of complaining but it also dramatically decreases patience and wisdom.)
        We waited...and waited, but eventually the sun was shining again. Yay!...until the pilot came back on and said that now Laguardia was closed again due to bad weather and congestion.  We'd sit on the runway and wait some more.  And wait and wait and wait.  Over five--yes FIVE--hours of waiting on the plane on the runway before....oh no, we'd have to return to the terminal for a second refueling. Now again, I'm all in favor of plenty of fuel, but by now we were about six hours late leaving, and this was getting mighty old.  But it was great to finally get off the plane and get some food.  Not exactly the relaxing dinner meal I'd been dreaming about in NYC with my girls, but when you're really hungry that Brueggers bagel tastes mighty good.
        I must add, however, that our pilot was really friendly and really good about communicating to us in the midst of a stressful situation.  He and the stewardesses (who were also extraordinarily nice and forbearing with some passengers who had grown, let's just say, mighty grumpy)were obviously doing their absolute best.
       This is going on too long, so I'm going to cut to the chase.  We eventually reboarded the plane--back to good old seat 10C--and when the pilot told the stewardesses to prepare for takeoff, everyone onboard started cheering!  When we actually got off the ground, there was wild applause!  And when we finally landed in Laguardia--at around 11:30 p.m. (a mere seven and a half hours late)--we all felt like crying for joy and relief.
        Why am I sharing all this? Mainly, because I wanted to COMPLAIN...in a blog post about not complaining!  I do see the irony in this...or at a minimum, the fact, that the Lord most definitely has a sense of humor.  (And I, on the other hand, at the time, did not.)
         I've gone one for so long that I no longer have time, space, or desire to share John Piper's fabulous list of ways to kill complaining.  I'll just have to get to that in a day or two...I surely have some more things I want to complain about first. Sigh. Let's just say that no complaining was killed that day, but at least there was an feeble attempt to at least injure it.  So Piper's Kill Complaining List will be coming another day.
         But I did want to add several things for which I'm very grateful--because nothing fights complaining like gratitude.
        First, thank You Lord that I had a number of really nice folks sitting around me on the plane--and believe me, we got to know each other over our nearly eight hour saga.  And the lady sitting beside me was especially sweet.  Thank You, Father! Second, thank You that the plane did eventually take off and land safely in New York.  Third, thank You that I did in fact get to spend the weekend with my daughters and had an absolutely wonderful time.  Fourth, thank You that we got to see the AMAZING show "Ain't too Proud"--which, if you go to NYC, you must, must, must see!  It's the story of the Temptations and is absolutely fabulous!
        Fifth, thank You that we got to eat our way through New York and that's just always a good thing.  A really, really good thing. (And an addendum to this--thank You Lord for the taste of yummy food and for the joy of sharing it in fellowship with others.  What a gift!)  Sixth, thank You that we had great weather once we got past the torrential downpours, fog, and thunderstorms of Thursday when we were attempting to fly in. (Am I sensing a slightly sarcastic, complaining tone in those words?  Hmm, forgive me.  I'm trying.) Seventh, thank You that the return trip home was a piece of cake and went perfectly. Eighth, thank You taht I have a home to return to, people that I love, and a Lord who loves me no matter what a nitwit I can act like.  Ninth, thank You that, as our minister Joel reminded us, "Being satisfied is a choice. It doesn't begin with a feeling but with trusting that God is all I truly need." And finally, tenth, thank You Lord that You are always and forever good, no matter whether our circumstances are happy or painful and You are always with  us and will never leave or forsake us.
        Sorry for all that blabbing, but here's my prayer--that we'd all start fighting our tendency to complain by choosing to thank.  To kill complaining with praising. What a difference that would make in our world--less grumbling, more gratitude.  And by the way, I'm thankful for you!  Thanks for reading all this and putting up with me!
        To God be the glory. 

       

Placing our hope in the right place

        Complaining.  Ugh. I may not consider myself a complaining person...but God knows the truth. Because He sees my complaining, ungrateful heart.  Sure, I might not always voice my complaints out loud, but believe me, my heart loudly proclaims my ingratitude and grumbling.
        Just today, I've been complaining to the Lord about a lack of answers to prayer in a particular area.  In my frustration, I've demanded of the Lord, "Are You listening?  Do You care?  Why aren't You answering?!"
        Here's the thing: I know that I know that I know that God is always listening. That He cares infinitely.  That He is forever good, and His ways are always best.  BUT RIGHT NOW IT DOESN'T FEEL THAT WAY!!  So here's what this all too often ungrateful, grumbling, prone-to-wander girl is slooooooowly learning--pour out my heart to the One who hears, who cares, who loves, who acts, who knows all, and who will always do what is for my good and His glory.  He can take my complaining, my disappointments, my frustrations.  After all, He already fully knows exactly what my grumbling, disappointed heart is already thinking.
        But then like the Psalmist, I must choose--by an act of the will, by an act of faith (NOT FEELINGS!  Because I don't feel like it!)--to hope in Him.  To praise Him.  To trust Him.  Because no matter how I might feel at the moment, He is worthy.  He is holy.  He is all-wise, all-good, all-powerful, all-loving.
        Ps.42 puts it this way: after sharing his sorrows and frustrations ("My tears have been my food day and night, while they say to me all the day long, 'Where is your God?'), the Psalmist then goes on to exhort his soul to hope in God.  He preaches the gospel to himself!  "Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me?  Hope in God; for I shall again praise Him, my salvation and my God." (v.5, 11) 
       That dog will hunt.
       My hope isn't in favorable circumstances or perfect outcomes or answers to my every prayer in the way I want!  No, my hope is in God.  And He will never let me down.  He will never forsake me.  He will never make a mistake. He will never do that which is not for our ultimate and best good and His glory.
       And if you need proof of any of that, just look to the cross.
       Goodness, I never even got to the wonderful list that our pastor shared recently from John Piper on how to battle complaining....but I'll get to that in a few days.  It's good stuff.  For right now, however, we have to begin by putting our hope--our true hope--in the only unshakable place.  The Rock that cannot be shaken, cannot be thwarted, and cannot be defeated.  We may not get the answer we were hoping for, but we've got the Lord who is infinitely beyond all that we could hope for or imagine.  And He is enough.
        Today, if you're having one of those no-good, very bad, terrible, frustrating days where answers to prayer seem few and far between, will you join me in choosing to move our focus from ourselves and our circumstances to our Lord?  Let's place our hope in Him.   For we "shall again praise Him, my salvation and my God."  Amen and amen.
         To God be the glory.

How will you spend your summer hours?

        Okay, I love, love, love summer--warmth (no freezing feet and hands--Hallelujah!); beauty (flowers everywhere, trees bursting with bright green leaves, birds and butterflies--life explodes all around us!); trips to wondrous places (for us, the mountains--God's handiwork everywhere!--or the beach or wherever it is folks go); more relaxed schedules (hopefully more time to read!); and, of course, ideal ice cream eating weather.
        But the "more relaxed schedules" part is where I tend to get into trouble. Because that can also translate into laziness...or lethargy...or plain old wasted time.  That relaxed schedule can cause things that don't shout at you with urgency to slowly, inevitably get pushed to the back burner.  After all, the laundry has to get done. The house must be picked up,  The groceries have to be bought.
        But what about the truly important things of life?  What about the important but not urgent? The life-giving but not loudly-screaming?  Like--time alone with the Lord.  Time spent pondering His Word.  Time savoring the people the Lord has so graciously put in your life.
       It's mighty easy to default to a combination of putting out fires and falling into sloughs of lazy inertia (also known as "time wasting!")
      Yet that's not how I--or any of us--want to squander our summer, is it?  I'm always struck by Annie Dillard's words in her book, The Writing Life: "How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.  What we do with this hour, and that one, is what we are doing.  A schedule defends from chaos and whim.  It is a net for catching days.  It is a scaffolding on which a worker can stand and labor with both hands at sections of time.”  And Justin Earley reminds us that "Humans are largely defined by the small routines that make up our days and weeks."
        Anybody else beside yours truly need to hear those words?
       Yes, summer is glorious...but we still each have twenty-four golden, never-to-be-repeated hours in each of her days.  So let's ask God to help us not to squander them.
       To drink each precious drop of summer and her hours down to the dregs.  To savor summer's beauty and bounty...but also to lavishly love and enjoy our people.  And to daily spend time adoring, praising, loving, worshipping, listening to and learning from the Lord who made us, knows us intimately and loves us infinitely.
          One more Annie Dillard quote that speaks volumes: "There is no shortage of good days.  It is good lives that are hard to come by. A life of good days lived in the senses is not enough. Who would call a day spent reading a good day? But a life spent reading is a good life."
           Amen!  So today, put away your cell phone!  A day here..and there...and there spent meandering through instagram and twitter does not add up to a good life.  Cast aside your to-do list, at least for a little while.  I promise, it will still be there when you get back!  Forget returning all those emails for a bit.  People will live if they have to wait a few hours to hear from you.
          Instead, sit down.  Close your eyes, and talk to Your Lord, Your Savior, Your Redeemer, Your Champion, Your Sustainer, Your dearest Friend.  He's ready and waiting.  No telling what pearls He has for you.
          Then, open His love letter to you.  His words of wisdom. His encouragement.  His empowerment.  His revelation of Who He is and what He's doing--His eternal, supernatural Word.  Ask Him to speak to you and to open your eyes to behold wondrous things from His Word. (Ps.119:18)
         And don't forget to notice the beauty all around you--and give Him glory and thanks!
         Finally, love and enjoy the people He's so extravagantly and generously placed in your life.  Time spent loving others is NEVER wasted. Never, ever, ever.  As I once read "Love God. Love others.  The end."  Yep, that pretty much covers it.
          How will you spend your hours this day?  Each and every sixty minutes are priceless gifts from the God who loves you.  Let's spend them wisely and well this summer.
          To God be the glory.