Good Monday morning! The hot day we had yesterday did dry things out a bit, but hot is still hot and we get some more hot today. I'm am hoping that taking the weekend off will result in better sentences than that last one, but Monday is still Monday and we get some more Monday today. Aaaagh, someone put me out of your misery! "I'm am", what in the world? I turned off the PC on Saturday morning and didn't come back until this morning and now I cannot type or write or any of the other skills that go into this devotional thing. I might suggest that it is time for a vacation, but half of the states (or more) are enduring a heat wave right now. I guess we'll have to plan a trip to Alaska to enjoy a cooling off, perhaps even northern Alaska. All is not bad though, this heat and the drying wind should get the wheat harvest underway at last.
Things don't happen as quickly as we might like in many cases. In the winter we complain that the spring isn't coming soon enough. In the spring we complain that the nice weather doesn't last long enough and the hot summer is coming too soon. Then we complain that the summer is too hot and the fall cooling isn't coming soon enough. In the fall... you get the picture. Of course the problem might not be the speed of certain events but the complaining part. I like to complain, but sometimes I think that I might be just a little too good at it. I think that I should be content in all situations like Paul said, and I think that everlasting gratitude should be on my lips as well. Is all complaining to be avoided all the time?
In the Psalms we don't always find praise and thanksgiving to God. I have found some quite bitter complaining in the psalms, and even some rather harsh questioning of God and his ways. When I read these psalms though there seems to be a pattern. The psalmist will pour out his heart to God, often complaining bitterly and questioning God, but then he will reach a point where his words make a turn. Often the turnaround starts out like, "but you, oh Lord and God, are mighty in your wonderful works..." and then the psalmist will start by recalling God's mighty works for Israel and even in the psalmist's own life. By the end of the psalm, the words are back to praising God.
We tend to complain when we look at our own situation. We recover from the complaining when we look at God. We tend to complain when we tally up our own resources, and we turn to praise when we look at God's providence. We complain when we depend on our own strength, and praise God when we realize His might. Finally, we complain when we look at our lack of control over much of anything in this world, and we can turn to praise and thanksgiving when we put our faith in God and his sovereign will. Yes, it may get hot out today, but I have shelter. I may complain about this or that, but when I pour it out before God, he will comfort me with his Spirit and gently turn my face to see his almighty power and glory. Look up! For our redemption draws near!
Have a wonderful new week in Christ Jesus!
Bucky
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