Complain.....Not Me!

Isn't funny how we can always find something to complain about? Why does it take a tragedy like what New Orleans and Biloxi are facing to make us take perspective of our fragile lives? There's a scripture that has stuck with me for years....It's from The Message Bible and it is found in Proverbs 20:30, it declares "It takes a painful situation to make us change our ways" Sometimes God uses circumstances such as what has transpired in New Orleans and Biloxi to make us understand how insignificant the things that we complain about really are.

What the people in those respective cities are going throught is nothing less than devastating and the average person would not know what to do. All the homes are under 20 to 30 feet water that has burst through little mini dams that were made years ago to keep the lake away from the city. They won't have electricity for months, much less a decent sewer system. And the needs go on and on and on......So what and why do we that weren't a part of the destruction in those cities have to complain about?

The Lord once spoke to my heart and said "If you are complaining, then you are NOT thankful".....Hmmm, make perfect sense to me. If we are so thankful to Him for all that He has done, then why at a moments notice do we complain about the silliest things. Right now the biggest complaint is the gas prices. Yes they are extremely high. (As I write this blog tonight, it's @ $3.09 a gallon), but let's put it into perspective. The people of New Orleans and Biloxi have no cars to worry about putting any high price gas into because they are under 30 ft. of water in most cases.

I sorta complained tonight because my wife wanted to make a "vegetarian meal", but those people would be so thankful just for any thing of substance that would fill there hungry stomachs. We complain because our electricity bills are high from running our A/C's from the hot summer that we've had. But tonight we have those people living in sweltering conditions in the Louisiana Superdome, where there is NO A/C's and NO running water to flush the toilet.(Moving to the Astrodome in Houston, TX as I write this) I think we will be OK. Etc, etc, etc, etc.........

So the next time you decide to complain to God about something you want Him to do and He hasn't answered (yet)......Take a real good look at your life as it is now and compare it to what those innocent and beautiful people of New Orleans and Biloxi are going through and you will probably come to the same conclusion that I did.

Complain? Me? About what?

A Happy Heart

Do you ever wonder why most children are always so happy? Well, according to some words from the Word of God I think I know. When I look at my 4 and 2 year old boys they are always so carefree about life in general. When they find out that they are going somewhere with the family or something as simple as going to the grocery store with Daddy, they get so excited. (I can only hope to exude that much joy when I go shopping)......

Anyway, I have noticed that my kids have so much joy when they wake up in the morning, all that they are concerned with is what they are eating for breakfast. They are not concerned about what they are going to eat, what they are going to wear, they are not worried about how they are going to pay the bills (maybe because they don't have any, huh?) so forth and so on.

The bottom line is they have so much joy because they know beyond a shadow of a doubt that their basic daily needs are going to be met. They know that their every need is going to be met from day to day without a hitch. All they have to say is "I'm hungry" and they get fed. Are you starting to see a pattern here?

Our Father in heaven wants to meet our daily needs as well. The scriptures says "Give us this day, our daily bread"......(Matt 6:11). What we must realize is that all we have is "today", tomorrow is NOT promised to any of us. But we are so concerned with worrying about tomorrow, that we forget to enjoy today. Believe it or not, God is already in tomorrow. He already knows what's going to happen, so if He was good today, He will be just as good or better tomorrow.

The scriptures also tell us that we should not be concerned with tomorrow. Matthew 6:34 declares "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble". In other words take care of today and all its problems and deal with tomorrow when it gets here. (Kapish)?

The Lord says that "He will meet every need according to His riches and glory in Christ Jesus" (Phil 4:19) In other words there is no need to great that He won't meet it. If He said it, just believe it. He doesn't want our hearts troubled, He wants our joy to be complete in Him, no matter what the circumstances.

Finally, Phillipians (4:6-7) declares this "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, let your your requests be known to God and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus" We must not be anxious nor worry about anything, but we must bring all issues to Him who is "able to do exceedingly, abundantly above all that we could ask or imagine"

There once was a very popular song in the 80's called "Don't worry, be happy" I think that we would bode well in these final days before the coming of our Lord and Savior to heed those words, not just on Sundays but everyday that is still called today.


Next: Wrong is right and Right is wrong!