I'm Not Complaining, But...

“Do everything without complaining…” (Philippians 2:14).

In case you had not noticed, the temperature has been a bit cooler in recent days. Yeah, I noticed! In fact, on Sunday, I met a couple of winter visitors in the Garden Room between services and I apologized for the cool weather while they were here. In all honesty, I think I was really just complaining over it being chilly. They laughed and said, “This is nothing…” and went on to say they were from Idaho where the winter weather dips below zero almost daily this time of the year. That’s cold! I guess I really have nothing to complain about…

I am reminded that the Jewish nation for nearly forty years received manna from heaven every morning. However, they began to complain about it. What was once a daily miracle became for them a routine occurrence. They grew accustomed to daily blessings and began to complain. (Paul commented on it in 1 Cor. 10:10).

Do you think that sometimes we too may take for granted the blessings of life and slip into a complaining mode? Do we at times need an attitude adjustment?

A few years ago, a tropical storm caused a power outage here in S. Florida for several days to weeks and we were forced to realize how we take for granted the physical necessities dependent on electricity. I wonder if we need occasionally a drastic measure in our personal experience to bring about an appreciation of life, family, and our relationship to God. I am not sure any of us would want that, but one thing for sure is that we certainly would not need that if we would learn to count our blessings daily, enjoy the regular occurrences gratefully and give thanks in life always.

I am going to try to do better regarding my attitude towards cooler weather. After all, we live in S. Florida! So Lord, I confess—I’ve got no complaints! How about you?

Devotedly yours,
Pastor Ron