Posts Tagged ‘Grumble’

Are you a Grumbler?

Posted: December 20, 2020 in Tough Times
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We have all heard the word and maybe you even have first-hand experience working or living with a grumbler.

Websters defines Grumbling as: 

to complain or protest about something in a bad-tempered but typically muted way.

For us men; Grumbling is specifically mentioned in the Bible as something Christians need to work hard to avoid. Grumbling is dangerous because it creates unrest. Grumblers are what a boss I used to work for called, “people who punch holes in the boat”. Whether this is a work application or just a life application, grumbling ruins everything over time. 

In this past year of crazy COVID, I did a whole lot of grumbling, how about you? What does that say about me? Probably that I write this particular blog because I need to read and apply this one more than most of you…because when it comes to grumbling, I failed this year.

To me, when the Bible mentions a topic over and over, we need to pay attention; and Grumbling is mentioned numerous times. Now, just a few sentences into this blog do you find it hard to believe that the Bible even talks about grumbling? Why would grumbling matter to God? Easy…because as I said in the beginning, grumbling is a dealbreaker or as my wife would tell me, “I don’t really want to be around you when you grumble” Honestly, I don’t want to be around myself when I do that either…it is miserable.

When I started looking into this topic, I remembered reading about Moses as someone who had to deal with grumblers as he guided the Children of Israel across the desert. During those 40 years, he was constantly battling the grumblers who actually were not grumbling against Moses, they were grumbling against God…Which is really the point of this blog today.

MY grumbling, the Children of Israel’s grumbling, anybody’s grumbling, is truly AGAINST our God. AND, with a HUGE emphasis on this point…it ALSO makes everyone around you unhappy… 

Paul tells us that very fact in 1 Corin. 10:10

And don’t grumble as some of them did, and were killed by the destroyer. 11 These things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our instruction,z on whom the ends of the ages have come.

Destroyer? Wait, what? No one mentioned anything about a Destroyer. But actually, that’s not true because, as we just read, Paul informed us HOW big of a deal grumbling is to God…

Grumbling undermines anything and everything that is good. It basically says, “I don’t trust this plan or this person, and I need to make sure that everyone around me knows. Moreover, I really don’t think that God is capable of saving me or my family. Can you imagine what grumbling does to your children? I can tell you, it fundamentally provides them an example of how to walk away from God and just not trust or believe Him that He will work things out.

Yep…Grumbling does all that and MORE.

Guys, today I urge all of us, and certainly, myself included, to refocus on Christ and His saving salvation and start by just being thankful for that…THEN…Push Grumbling aside completely and look at your family and be thankful for that…

The pattern for removing grumbling is being thankful. You can’t grumble when you’re thankful…it is a scientific impossibility. OK…honestly, not sure about the science part but I do speak the truth. When you truly focus on the things in your life that you are thankful for (and they are there) you won’t feel the need to grumble anymore.

Guys, if you are like me, 2020 sucked and it is still sucking. But for me, even writing this, helps me remember that I have a tremendous amount to be thankful for and even though the future seems scary and I am unsure, we have a God who cares and asks us constantly to reach out to HIM for help.

Guys, I urge you today to take the first step…be thankful for ALL you have and no more grumbling-

Until next time guys-

Postscript: If you are specifically interested in the Destroyer I mentioned earlier, here are some scriptures for you to reference:

Exodus 12:23, Hebrews 11:28, 2 Kings 19:32-35

You Should Just Give Up…

Posted: April 19, 2014 in Inspirational
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I found myself complaining the other day about something I now don’t even remember what it was about but it got me thinking about fundamentally why my first reaction was to grumble about the issue in the first place? Have you ever done that before? When something happens the way you don’t want it to your first reaction is to gripe about it? It can be about small or even stupid things like “why don’t you do this right?” or, “why can’t you put this away correctly?”…But the fact I was doing this got me thinking about complaining or the idea of complaining for really no good reason at all.

I think you would agree with me that there are people in this world who should be complaining or have a more valid reason to complain. For example, when you don’t have enough food to feed your family or when you have lost your job through no fault of your own…those are the folks that should be complaining. But what I find interesting is in some cases, these are the people who don’t say anything. They just go about their business and go on surviving. If they lose their job, they work to find another one. If they can’t feed their family, they find another job to make some more money to help. Please don’t misunderstand me here, this is not a commentary on work ethic or our society, it is my observation that when the going gets rough, there are people out there who simply DO and don’t complain about it.

Recently, I had the opportunity to hear Mark Woodard speak about his life experiences and his insatiable desire to be positive and to persevere, no matter what his circumstances. Guys, never in my life have I heard someone who should simply complain about his life and what has happened to him. Quick summary, when he was 10, a shotgun went off and blew half his face away. After many surgeries, he survived but he was totally blind. After receiving a 7-figure settlement, his drug-addicted mother stole most of his money and later on, a girl friend would steal the rest. Through many various struggles as a ward of the state, fights, adversity like I have never seen before, this guy struggles on. He won’t even think of quitting. He is now 25, and working to get a degree to teach blind people skills that he had to learn on his own. What I find inspiring is his perspective because complaining is not an option to him. He simply keeps persevering no matter what the odds are stacked against him. As I listened, I found myself asking what would I have done in his situation? Would I have persevered in the face of so many obstacles, or just given up? The fact that I began this blog with a confession that I was complaining about something unimportant made me realize that I wasn’t proud of myself in this area. Mark has somehow learned how to be content and persevere no matter what he faces in his life…and he can’t even see. Then I remembered something the Apostle Paul said in Philippians that brought the answer to me in a way I could understand:

I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through Christ who gives me strength.  Philippians 4:11-13

Suddenly I feel really stupid about complaining about anything. Sure, I have faced adversity in my life…we all have. But the key is understanding how to be content and NOT complain. The key is to keep on seeking God and persevering with all of our might…even when it makes no sense for us to do so. God has promised to never leave us or forget us…

 

Let me leave you with this very simple thought:

 

No matter what your circumstances may be, there is always something to be thankful for…

 

Until next time guys…