Why Dropping the Drama is One of the Best Decisions of All

When Satan tempted Jesus in the wilderness the third time, he tried to entice Him to step outside the will of God in a flashy show of angel-power that was designed to kill or destroy. (jump off the temple) 

Jesus answered him by saying, "You shall not put the Lord your God to the test." (Luke 4:12 NASB)

His answer, a quote from Deuteronomy 6:16, is a reference to the events at Massah. You probably know this story. The children of Israel had traveled in stages from the wilderness of Sin and had arrived at Rephidim (Moses renamed it Massah - or test - because of the testing there). 

There was no water at the camp, and they began to grumble, whine, and complain. As usual, the people overdramatized the situation, saying that they, their children, and all the livestock were going to die of thirst. 

Moses was afraid they were about to stone him, so he cried out to God, Who instructed him to strike the rock with his staff. Moses did just that, and water flowed out. 

Not once had God failed to provide for the people. He had given generously every time they asked. Neither arguing nor threatening Moses were necessary. 

The multitude of Hebrews, however, were no different than we are today. They wanted what they wanted, when they wanted it, and they were not willing to wait for it. 

They didn't want to ask for a miracle. They wanted the miraculous to miraculously appear.  

The problem that day at Rephidim/Massah wasn't that they asked for water. The problem was the WAY they asked for it - defiant, demanding, disrespectful of the One who had just delivered them from slavery. 

Ultimately, the people continued with their grumbling and demanding attitudes, and it cost them dearly. Not only did most of them spend the rest of their lives in the wilderness, but they also missed the face to face encounter with God that only Moses enjoyed. 

Not long ago, something minimal happened at the farm. The Farm Hand gave me one of those looks and said, "You're probably gonna write about this, and overdramatize it, like you do everything." 

I put my hand on my hip and, sassy as ever, told him, "I am a writer, you know. Drama is kinda my thing." 

His wife was there, too. She just shook her head and smiled.

I laughed, but there was a little sting to his words. And more than a little truth. 

I wonder just what my drama and exaggeration of the difficulties I've encountered have cost?  

What have my grumbling and complaining cost? 

What have yours cost you? 

It's easy to see an immediate need with no immediate answer in sight and totally panic, rather than wait in faith for God's answer. 

It's easy to look at the poor choices of loved ones and think they will never change. 

The easy wilderness response to fear and hurt is panic, grumbling, and doubt. Nevertheless, our response needs to be one of humility, faith, and consistent, persistent prayer. 

Today, let's drop the drama and remember to thank God for the answers He's already given. Let's simply present our needs before Him today and ask that living water will flow through us and those we love, just as it did at the rock of Horeb. No grumbling allowed. 
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In case you missed it, here's the link to yesterday's post: Separating the Wheat From the Chaff 
#Jesus #grumbling

The Grumbling Blogger Repents

I had signed up to help with a project at church. I didn't have a direction from God. I didn't feel called.  I wasn't even sure I wanted to help, but it seemed there was a need I could meet. 

My first meeting was last night, and, from the beginning, I wanted to quit. There was nothing wrong with the project, the project leader, or the project participants. People were eager to please God with the project, and everyone was trying hard to do a good job, but it's not an easy project.

It was harder than I thought it would be. It wasn't what I had expected. It would take more time than I wanted to give. 

I'm ashamed to admit this, but after writing about the perils of grumbling yesterday, I found myself grumbling up a storm last night. 

You name it, I grumbled about it. I wanted to quit, and spoke my intention to the person sitting next to me. "You've only been here thirty minutes. Give it a little time. It won't always be hard. You'll like this." I smiled and pressed on, but I doubted I would ever like it. 

Very few of my grumbles were out loud, but God heard every single one

My friend who sat next to me heard a little of my grumbling.  "I'm gonna pray for you," she told me. This morning, her prayers have already been answered.

As I was driving home, I remembered my blog post from yesterday and thought, "I've joined in with the rabble." I repented all the way home and have continued to repent this morning.  

When it was time to start the blog for today, I was wordless and praying for something that would be helpful. After flipping back through more than 1,300 previous blog posts, I found one of the "least read" posts from 2013. It was about the importance of words and based on the preaching of John the Baptizer. Exactly what I needed to read.

"So with many other exhortations he preached the gospel to the people." (Luke 3:18 NASB)

The Message paraphrases that verse this way: "There was a lot more of this—words that gave strength to the people, words that put heart in them." The Message (Luke 3:18 MSG)

When John preached, he spoke words that strengthened the people and put heart in them. 

"He helped them find their way through the early days of this remarkably personal faith they had embraced. John spoke with words that they could remember, that they could hold to and use during the difficult days." (LH, 2013)

I read my own words, written more than two years ago, and was filled with sorrow. My words (spoken and unspoken) had not been exhortations that strengthened those around me or put heart into my fellow servants. They had been grumblings that only served to discourage the ones sitting next to me.

I'm so sorry for grumbling.

This morning, I've listened to the rolling thunder and repented. The project is one that will glorify God and give Him great pleasure, but not if I undertake it with a grumbly heart. 

I've decided to embrace it. With a heart of joy and love for the One who first loved me. God loves a cheerful giver, and I'm committing myself to giving this gift of service, time, and talent with a cheerful heart. Even if it's hard and takes a lot more time than I  wanted to give.

If you have a tendency toward grumbling, take a hint from me. It's not worth it.

Let's be sure our words, our actions, and our attitudes give strength to those around us and put heart in them. Let's use the words of our mouths (and the meditations of our hearts) to encourage those who serve, not discourage them.

Serve with a cheerful heart. It's the kind of gift God loves best.

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Be sure to check the updated Prayer List 

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In case you missed one of the past week's posts, here are the links: The Turning Point: A Grateful Heart, You are Greatly Loved, A Little Taste of Heaven: Body of Christ, Friday Night with Friends: Food and Faith, The Priest Job, Telling the Good News,  When Good People Run Things: Considering the Presidential Candidates and Deciding How to Vote, Sharing the Blessings of God, Grumbling with the Rabble and Getting What We Want

#thegrumblingbloggerrepents #godlovesacheerfulgiver #JesusChrist #linesfromleanna #LeannaHollis 

My morning confession: Tongue-taming

For we all stumble in many ways. If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body as well.

But no one can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God; from the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be this way. (James 3:2, 8-10 NASB)

Yep. Another detour. It's a morning confession. You may have thought that the post from yesterday, about not saying anything if you couldn't say something nice, was for you. It wasn't. It was for me. I read it several times, because I knew it was for me, but, before I could turn around, the day began to unfold.

So that I don't have to repent again for the many-ith time, all I will say is that I had repeated encounters with someone, and they did not go well. The first time, I managed to keep my cool but grumble to the Lord. The next time, I got tense. I was calm on the outside, but very upset on the inside, which is where God sees. That's the place that matters most. It went downhill from there. (You might not view this as downhill, but I do.) 

I grumbled all day long about the situation. I repented over and over again. Last night, as I reported in to my writing group with my daily word count, I realized that all the grumbling had severely affected my productivity. In my report, I wrote, "I need some time at the foot of the cross and an attitude adjustment." It was true. Finally, at the end of a long grumbly day, that's exactly where I went and what I received. After I dried my tears of repentance, I thought, "Why did I waste all that time grumbling when I could have left this at the cross?"

No one can tame the tongue except God, and it's quite a job. Maybe you're a little like me in this tongue problem, but let's take it to the cross and try to be done with it. No matter the situation, it is never the right thing to speak ill of someone. It is never the right thing to grumble to others about someone. It's never the right thing to hold onto our anger all day while we fret and fume. I know this from experience.

With all that said, I'm determined to be more faithful with the way I use my tongue today. I'm going to bless instead of grumble. I'm going to leave it at the cross, and I invite you to do the same. 

If we are disciples of Christ, we must do what He wants. Jesus is shockingly clear. Love your enemies. Pray for those who persecute you. That translates into praying for the most aggravating, irritating person in your life. Pray until you love them. I'm doing that now. In fact, let's do it together. 

Just think what God could do with our sacrifice if we stopped grumbling and loved the most unlovely people in our lives. It would take a miracle of tongue-taming, of course, so let's give our tongues to the only Tongue-Tamer, who can transform our words and, through them, change the world.

Battle in the Wilderness: No Grumbling Allowed (Luke 4:12)

And Jesus answered and said to him, "It is said, 'You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.'" (Luke 4:12 NASB)

The third and final temptation in the wilderness was to step outside the will of God to show His own importance and divert His direction from the one God had prepared for Him. The price, once again was worship of self. 

Jesus's answer was a quote from Deuteronomy 6:16 and is a reference to the events Massah. The children of Israel had traveled in stages from the wilderness of Sin and had arrived at Rephidim (Moses renamed it Massah - or test - because of the testing there). There was no water at the camp and they began to grumble (whine and complain). As usual, the people overdramatized the situation, saying that they, their children, and all the livestock were going to die of thirst. Moses thought they were about to stone him, and he cried out to God, Who instructed him to strike the rock with his staff. Moses did just that, and water flowed out. 

God had not failed to provide for the people. All they had to do was ask, and He had provided generously every time. Arguing and threatening Moses was not necessary. The multitude of Hebrews, however, were no different than we are today. They wanted what they wanted, when they wanted it, and they were not willing to wait for it. They didn't want to ask for a miracle. They wanted the miraculous to miraculously appear without having to ask for it. It was not the asking for water that was the problem. It was the WAY they asked for it - defiant, demanding, disrespectful of the One who had just delivered them from slavery. Jesus wanted no part of such behavior, for ultimately the people continued with their grumbling and demanding attitudes and it cost them dearly. Not only did most of them spend the rest of their lives in the wilderness, but also they missed the face to face encounter with God that only Moses enjoyed. It's no wonder Jesus was able to resist. 

I wonder just what my drama and exaggeration of the difficulties I've encountered have cost?  What have my grumbling and complaining cost? What have yours cost you? It is easy to see an immediate need with no immediate answer in sight and totally panic, rather than wait in faith for God's answer. It's easy to look at the poor choices of loved ones and think they will never change. The easy wilderness response to our fear and hurt is grumbling and doubt. Nevertheless,  Our response needs to be one of humility, faith, and consistent, persistent prayer. 

As we pray today, remember to thank God for the answers He has already given. Let's simply present our needs before Him today and ask that living water will flow through our loved ones as it did at the rock of Horeb. No grumbling allowed.