The Problem with Complaining

A lot of people (including me) complain about life, and we shouldn't. Why did all my professors schedule a test for Monday? Why isn't there any food in the fridge? Why won't this girl like me? Why does my job take up so much of my life?

Be thankful.

In high school, I was an avid debater. For some odd reason, I loved researching topics like environmental law towards business and campaign finance reform. Yet, before every tournament, I became extremely afraid. One time, I got sick right before the big weekend. As my mom and I drove to the tournament at 5AM, I started complaining. I was sick. I had an awful continental breakfast. I slept for 5 hours. My shower was cold.

Mom said something I'll never forget. She had me open of her devotionals; I read a paraphrased compilation of scriptures. Amazingly, it met me right where I was at. "Why are you hungry? Why are sick? Why are you tired?" the text read. "Don't you know that the Lord is your strength?"

Humbled, all I could do was stop complaining.

Let's be honest here. For most of us, our lives are pretty decent! The fact that we have a job to complain about shows that we have a job! If our biggest problem is that a guy won't like us, it's time to grow up.

John Mark McMillan, possibly my favorite artist, wrote a song called Kiss Your Feet. In that song, he expands upon this idea.

And all my afflictions
There only light ones anyway

There are 140 million orphans in the world; there are 800 million people in the world who suffer from hunger and malnutrition; there are 14.8 million unemployed people in the United States alone.

Isn't it time to stop worrying about our own half-decent lives and start focusing on the people who are really in need?

Be patient.

Watchmen Nee, an amazing Chinese-Christian author, wrote--

I was once staying a place in China with some twenty other brothers. There was inadequate provision for bathing in the home where we stayed, so we went for a daily plunge in the river. On one occasion a brother got cramp in his leg, and I suddenly saw he was sinking fast, so I motioned to another brother, who was an expert swimmer to hasten to his rescue. But to my astonishment, he made no move. Growing desperate I cried out, “Don’t you see the man is drowning?” and the other brothers, about as agitated as I was shouted vigorously too. But our good swimmer still did not move. Calm and collected, he remained just where he was, apparently postponing the unwelcome task. Meantime the voice of the poor drowning brother grew fainter and his efforts feebler. In my heart I said: “I hate that man! Think of his letting a brother drown before his very eyes and not going to the rescue!”

But when the man was actually sinking, with a few swift strokes the swimmer was at his side, and both were soon safely ashore. Nevertheless, when I got an opportunity, I aired my views. “I have never seen any Christian who loved his life quite as much as you do,” I said. “Think of the distress you would have saved that brother if you had considered yourself a little less and him a little more!” But the swimmer, as I soon discovered, knew his business better than I did.

“Had I gone earlier,” he said, “he would have clutched me so fast that both of us would have gone under. A drowning man cannot be saved until he is utterly exhausted and ceases to make the slightest effort to save himself.”

Recently, I heard a man say--"God may not come when we ask, but He always arrives on time."

Sometimes, when our lives are burdened with afflictions, we need to be prayerfully patient, waiting on the Lord because, let's be honest, He knows what He is doing, and if we complain, we are really saying that we know more than He does.

Job was in a similar situation. When Job lost his family, his wife, his land, his servants, and all of his possessions, he tried not to complain. After a long dialogue with his "friends," Job became very discouraged. Without wasting a second, the Lord "appeared out of the storm" and replied:

“Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?
Tell me, if you understand.
Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know!
Who stretched a measuring line across it? (Job 38:4-5)

In a way, the Lord's gives a laundry list of questions about His creation; he asks about the behemoth, the ostrich, the mountains, and the seas, yet Job cannot answer. Job does not know.

The only thing Job can say is: “I know that you can do all things."

When trouble arises and the oceans roar, may we be thankful for what God has given us, and be patient for His deliverance because in our weakness, He is made strong.

"For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, works for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen– for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal." 2 Cor. 4:17, 18

Tuned In

“Awaken what’s inside of me / tune my heart to all You are in me / and even though You’re here, God come,” sings Christian music duo Shane & Shane.

When I listened to that song recently, the last line struck me: “Even though You’re here, God come.” You see, most Christians know that the Lord promised to never leave us nor forsake us, but what does that really mean?

This question is nothing new. For centuries, Christians have been wrestling with this dilemma: If the Lord is truly with us at all times, why do we feel so alone sometimes? In fact, after Jesus speaks with boldness to His adversaries, John 7:31 says: “Many of the people believed in Him, and said, ‘When the Christ comes, will He do more signs than these which this Man has done?’”

My heart sinks each time I read that. Did you catch that? When the Christ comes… He was standing in their midst, and they completely missed Him. How many times do we peruse over His communication with us each day?

A friend recently told me that God is always with us; we need to always be with Him. After that midnight conversation, in our living quarters in Mexico, I finally realized—communion with God is a two-way street.

In Luke 12:35-36, Jesus tells a parable of a wedding feast. He commands us to, “Be like men who wait for their master, when he will return from the wedding, that when he comes and knocks they may open to him immediately.” Let me explain…

Wait

These men were constantly looking out for an opportunity to hear from their master. Their family time, work schedules, and down-time were all tuned to listening to his voice.

Everything they did was for the glory of God. Similarly, 1 Corinthians 10:31 declares, “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”

I think this is what the Bible means when it says to “pray without ceasing.” Not necessarily audibly speaking with Jesus, but constantly being tuned in. This takes time and devotion. I’ve found one of the best ways to do this is to listen to worship music, but that’s just me.

Open

The men opened the door immediately. If we’re having trouble with this concept, think about what you would do with a natural friendship: sit down, talk them about their schedules, why you haven’t been talking lately, and ask the other individual to hang out some time. That’s the beauty of it. Ask, and you shall receive!

If the Light of the World is standing before us (and He is!), we won’t see Him unless we have our eyes open. Sometimes, this calls for a simple consciousness of Him; other instances, it requires sacrifice; other times, He only calls us to come to wedding. Either way, may we always be tuned into His thoughts … (to be honest, it’s pretty awesome!)

Él Sabe Su Nombre (He Knows Your Name)

I’m told that the Hebrew word for name as used in the Scriptures means more than a title; it is the very essence of a person. It signifies their thoughts, actions, desires, fears, goals, hopes, dreams, how they were formed in their mother’s womb, what sort of ice cream the like, their favorite movie, their occupation, their hobbies, and the number of hairs on their head.

When I was interning in Monterrey, Mexico…

I had the amazing opportunity to play with the kids from Casa Hogar Douglas. At least three times a week, we worked at the children’s home and horsed around with the niños! As our time there grew, so did our relationships with the kids.

As soon as we could exit our white Toyota pick-up truck, the kids would run towards us, screaming our names: “Jose! Jose! Jose!”

I cannot describe how special that made me feel each time we arrived. Because I could not speak Spanish, my medium of communication was body language. In these situations, though, we all spoke the same language. Their smiling faces running towards me spoke volumes, because while we came to pour our hearts into our concrete job, they came to let us know that we were appreciated (and that they wanted us to play with them)! I can remember thinking, Wow. They remembered my name.

Then, this thought hit me like a speeding train: if I, a random teenager from north-east Ohio, feel so special that a Mexican kid remembered my name, I wonder what Marcos, Magali, Gustavo, Rosario, and Jorge feel like when I remember their nombre?

In the same way…

The Lord knows our names. He knows your thoughts, actions, desires … In Isaiah 43:1, the Lord declares, “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are Mine.”

Just as Marcos would run towards me, calling my name (and stroking his hair into a fohawk so that he could look like me), the Lord runs towards you.

Spend time with Him and get to know His name. There is no greater joy.

Strawberries

I love strawberries. They're sweet. They're fresh. They're juicy. In fact, there's almost nothing as tasty as cold strawberries in the Summertime after a long day in the scorching sun. Can you taste what I'm describing? When you bite into the luscious fruit, it bursts in your mouth like a small water balloon; when you chomp into it, it quenches your thirst. But yet, it's not a drink, it's food!

Amazing.

Overall, I'd say strawberries are pretty nifty delicacies. Yes sirree!

Recently, my mom packed me a huge bag of strawberries before I ventured out into the unknown one morning. (Hey, I had a bag of strawberries! What could go wrong?) Unfortunately, I left the nicely-packed bag in the car in the hot sun all day, and after realizing that my AC wasn't working, I decided to take my car into the shop.

A week (and a few hundred bones) later, I picked up the car and...

it smelt nasty. My strawberries still smelt sweet, in a way, but layered on top of the "sweetness" was a disgusting odor of festering mold. I've never smelt anything more abominable in my life!

This unfortunate event made me realize that strawberries are like Christians. We have "freshness" living inside of us. We are victorious beings, free from the vices of sin. We even know a Bible verse (or two!) by heart.

Christians (through Christ, of course) have the potential to facilitate the Light of the world, but in the same way, we have the potential to put it under a bushel. This is serious stuff.

Brennan Manning said--

The single greatest cause of atheism in the world today is Christians, who acknowledge Jesus with their lips, then walk out the door, and deny Him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.

Sure, the strawberries in my car were still strawberries, but were they appealing or repelling? Sure a Christian is a Christian, but are we bringing people to the throne or pushing them away with our words and actions? Sure, we know all the "fresh" worship songs, but is it just lip service?

In Amos 5:21-23, the Lord laments to Israel and says:

“I hate, I despise your feast days,
And I do not savor your sacred assemblies.
Though you offer Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings,
I will not accept them,
Nor will I regard your fattened peace offerings.
Take away from Me the noise of your songs,
For I will not hear the melody of your stringed instruments."

Once again, this is serious stuff.

It's time for Christians (including myself) to be fresh, again. He is desiring a people that will share His sweetness with a starving world.

Amos 5:24--

"Let justice run down like water,
And righteousness like a mighty stream."

Sounds like strawberries to me.

Facebook's Popularity

Facebook is one of the most successful ideas ever launched in the history of marketing. The reason: it’s all about you. Other marketing strategies are about you being like (or not like) someone or something else. (Think “Old Spice Deodorant commercials” – You can smell like a man if you buy our products.)

Think about it. The whole point of Facebook is to get other people to find, read, and like what you have say. For some, that in of itself is the reward. For example, many friends of mine post political or theological musings to convince their audience. Awesome! Also, almost everyone on Facebook posts pictures to share with their friends. Also awesome!

To others, though, having people find, read, and like their posts is only half the goal. For many others, including myself a lot of times, Facebook is about acceptance.

The more friends you have, the more important you feel.

The more photos you have, the more popular you are. (Make sure they’re good pictures, or we’ll un-tag ourselves, right?)

If you comment on someone else’s profile picture, hopefully they’ll comment on yours.

The wittier of a status you can concoct, the smarter people will think you are.

Are we really this obsessed with ourselves?

The Movie Of Life

This excerpt is taken from "Crazy Love," by Francis Chan. It really opened my eyes. I hope it is encouraging for you as well...


I used to believe that in this world there are two kinds of people: natural worriers and naturally joyful people. I couldn't help it that I was the worrying kind. I'm a problem solver, so I have to focus on things that need fixing. God can see that my intensity and anxiety are ministry related. I worry because I take His work seriously.

Right?

But then there's that perplexing command: "Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I say: Rejoice!" (Phil 4:4). You'll notice that it doesn't end with "...unless you're doing something extremely important." No, it's a command for all of us, and it follows with the charge, "Do not be anxious about anything." (v. 6)

That came as a pretty staggering realization. But what I realized next was even more staggering.

When I am consumed by my problems - stressed out about my life, my job - I actually convey the belief that I think the circumstances are more important than God's command to always rejoice In other words, that I have a "right" to disobey God because of the magnitude of my responsibilities.

Worry implies that we don't quite trust that God is big enough, powerful enough, or loving enough to take care of what's happening in our lives.

Stress says that the things we are involved in are important enough to merit our impatience, our lack of grace toward others, or our tight grip of control.

Basically, these two behaviors communicate that it's okay to sin and not trust God because the stuff in my life is somehow exceptional. Both worry and stress reek of arrogance. They declare our tendency to forget that we've been forgiven, that our lives here are brief, that we are headed to a place where we won't be lonely, afraid, or hurt ever again, and in that in the context of God's strength, our problems are small, indeed.

Why are we so quick to forget God? Who do we think we are?

I find myself relearning this lesson often. Even though I glimpse God's holiness, I am still dumb enough to forget that life is all about God and not about me at all.

It goes sort of like this...

Suppose you are an extra in an upcoming movie. You will probably scrutinize that one scene where hundreds of people are milling around, just waiting for that two-fifths of a second when you can see the back of your head. Maybe your mom and your closest friend get excited about that two-fifths of a second... maybe. But no one else will realize it is you. Even if you tell them, they won't care.

Let's take it a step further. What if you rent out the theater on opening night and invite all your friends and family to come see the new movie about you? People will say, "You're an idiot! How could you think this movie is about you?"

Many Christians are even more delusional than the person I've been describing. So many of us think and live like the movie of life is all about us.

Now consider the movie of life...

God creates the world. (Were you alive then? Was God talking to you when He proclaimed "It is good" about all that he had made?

Then the people rebel against God (who, if you haven't realized it yet, is the main character in this movie), and God floods the earth to rid it of the mess people made of it.

Several generations later, God singles out a ninety-nine-year-old man called Abram and makes him the father of a nation (did you have anything to do with this?)

Later, along come Joseph and Moses and many other ordinary and inadequate people that the movie is also not about. God is the one who picks them and directs them and works miracles through them....

And then, the climax: The Son of God is born among the people whom God still somehow loves. While in this world the Son teaches His followers what true love looks like. Then the Son of God dies and is resurrected and goes back up to be with God.

Finally, the throne room of God. Here every being worships God who sits on the throne, for He alone is worthy to be praised.

From start to finish, this movie is obviously about God. He is the main character. How is it possible that we live as though it is about us?

Our scenes in the movie, our brief lives, fall somewhere between the time Jesus dies on the cross and when we will all worship God on His throne in heaven.

We have only our two-fifths-of-a-second-long scene to live. I don't know about you, but I want my two-fifths-of-a-second to be about my making much of God.

1st Corinthians 10:31 - "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God."

So what does that mean for you?

Frankly, you need to get over yourself. It may sound harsh, but that's seriously what it means. ... The point of your life is point to Him.