Complaining and Grumbling

I have been reading a book called "Notes to Self" by Joe Thorn. It is an excellent read. He writes notes to himself on such things as fear, doubt, idolatry and a whole host of other categories. His writing is short but precise.  One chapter that caught my attention is the one called "Stop Complaining." Scripture has much to say about grumbling and never is it called good by God. In fact if we truly believe that God is omniscient He hears every word we speak and even knows the ones we don't.  Thorn says sometimes we want to call it harmless venting.  But such a name is a lie and one that bothers God. Complaining doesn't please the Lord to put it in its most concise summary.

To complain is to undermine God's loving sovereignty in our lives. It is to tell Him that somehow He isn't doing right by us.  God grants many blessings of grace such as life itself.  The minor annoyances that come are way are usually the ones that trip us up the most. With tragedy we typically draw closer to the Lord. But in every day life we get confident in our flesh and are more likely to sweat the small stuff and grumble while we do.  It is also our reactions to the small stuff that most people see day in and day out.  It is hypocritical to say that God handles the big stuff but somehow isn't up to the small things about which we grumble. By bringing the Gospel to bear on every aspect of our lives--small and large--we can respond in ways that honor God.  God has purpose in the inconvenient and petty annoyances; He uses it to transform us into Christlikeness and thus deeper fellowship with the Lord.

The Stubborn Weed

I know it has been a long time since I posted anything.  I have my reasons for the sabbatical. I am not sure how consistent I will be as I start anew. But I hope to post more frequently than I have in the past few months.

 There are a lot of weeds in the lawn of my apartment complex.  I am sure the manager wouldn't be happy if I told her my blog post was about the weedy lawn. Oh well.  There is a particular kind of woody weed that is very difficult, if not impossible, to pull out of dry soil.  It has a huge root with lots of tentacles creeping underneath the sod.  Often the best that can be done is to pull the leafy part of the stem but to leave the root intact. However when we get a lot of rain the weed pulls easily out of the lawn root and all. For some reason I enjoy picking the weeds right after a heavy rain. Gives me a sense of accomplishment.  It also makes me feel like I am giving the lawn a chance.

As I was pulling some of the weeds these past few days, I thought of the nature of sin. It is very resilient. Its tentacles run deep into the often hard and claylike soil.  Sometimes we try to uproot it but only break off the leafy or showy parts above the ground.  We can make it appear we have done the hard work when we have only skimmed the surface.  However, just as water makes the weed pull up easily; the water of the Word is needed to soften the roots of sin. Only then can the Holy Spirit  totally destroy the unwanted transgression in our life. Pulling weeds from the lawn makes the grass freer to grow.  Pulling weeds from the heart makes our spirits free to grow.