Madre
07-26-2007, 01:58 PM
Complete article:
http://www.hi-rock.com/complain.html
This article spoke to me. It's easy (so easy) to fall into complaining and murmuring, but if we remember to "keep our eyes on our Pilot" then we will see that everything in under His control.
As we find more joy in doing God's work to please Him and not to please ourselves or others, we will find that we are less inclined to complain about everything that goes wrong. Another word for "complain" in the New Testament is mempsimoiros which literally means "to blame fate." Can we blame fate for our problems when we realize that everything is in the hands of God?
We need to remember, too, that there is a vast difference between entreating God through prayer and complaining. As we read many of the Psalms (for example, 50:1.3), we find attitudes that would be considered complaining if addressed to man but when addressed to God are actually prayerful supplications.
No should we overlook the value of honest discontent. We need to be able to reconcile problems that need solving in our lives and in our churches and we need to be able to dea with these with God's help. Such thinqs, however, should be done in a proper, orderly manner and not through complaining, gossiping or forming destructive cliques.
There is no shortcut to becoming a joyful Christian instead of a complaining Christian. But there is a sure cure for complaining and other undesirable traits in our lives: keep out eyes on the Lord.
Robert Louis Stevenson told of a ship which was driven by a violent storm toward a dangerous rocky coast. The passengers were filled with fear, expecting the ship to be dashed to pieces at any moment. One old passenger made his way with great difficulty to the pilot house. There he saw the pilot holding the wheel and, slowly but surely, veering the ship away from the rocks and out to sea.
The pilot saw the passenger and smiled at him. Returning below, the passenger said, "All's well! I have seen the pilot and he smiled at me!"
When life seems difficult and even dangerous wouldn't we do well to keep our eyes on our "Pilot" rather than expending energy in useless complaining and grumbling?
"Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith" (Hebrews 12:1,2).
http://www.hi-rock.com/complain.html
This article spoke to me. It's easy (so easy) to fall into complaining and murmuring, but if we remember to "keep our eyes on our Pilot" then we will see that everything in under His control.
As we find more joy in doing God's work to please Him and not to please ourselves or others, we will find that we are less inclined to complain about everything that goes wrong. Another word for "complain" in the New Testament is mempsimoiros which literally means "to blame fate." Can we blame fate for our problems when we realize that everything is in the hands of God?
We need to remember, too, that there is a vast difference between entreating God through prayer and complaining. As we read many of the Psalms (for example, 50:1.3), we find attitudes that would be considered complaining if addressed to man but when addressed to God are actually prayerful supplications.
No should we overlook the value of honest discontent. We need to be able to reconcile problems that need solving in our lives and in our churches and we need to be able to dea with these with God's help. Such thinqs, however, should be done in a proper, orderly manner and not through complaining, gossiping or forming destructive cliques.
There is no shortcut to becoming a joyful Christian instead of a complaining Christian. But there is a sure cure for complaining and other undesirable traits in our lives: keep out eyes on the Lord.
Robert Louis Stevenson told of a ship which was driven by a violent storm toward a dangerous rocky coast. The passengers were filled with fear, expecting the ship to be dashed to pieces at any moment. One old passenger made his way with great difficulty to the pilot house. There he saw the pilot holding the wheel and, slowly but surely, veering the ship away from the rocks and out to sea.
The pilot saw the passenger and smiled at him. Returning below, the passenger said, "All's well! I have seen the pilot and he smiled at me!"
When life seems difficult and even dangerous wouldn't we do well to keep our eyes on our "Pilot" rather than expending energy in useless complaining and grumbling?
"Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith" (Hebrews 12:1,2).