So, I am back rubbing shoulders again with the Israelites and in Exodus 16 they are complaining (in a really ugly sort of way, I have a feeling) to Moses and Aaron that they are hungry and want food. I love how Moses gets right to the heart of the issue when he says to them in vs. 8 "...for the Lord hears your grumblings which you grumble against Him. And what are we? Your grumblings are not against us but against the Lord."
This is a truth we preach often in the Pichura home...but I am amazed how quick I am to be a hearer of the Word and not a doer. Or, to chose to see God's hand in some things but not all... thus, giving me a right to complain and get irritated when I deem the situation to be rediculous or the person involved to be a pain in the neck.
There are so many times I do not take to heart Lamentations 3:37-38, "Who is he who speaks and it comes to pass, when the Lord has not commanded it? Is it not from the mouth of the most High that woe and well being proceed?" And that I do not echo the words of Psalm 119:75 "I know, O Lord, that Your judgements are right and that in faithfulness You have afflicted me."
I think it is because sometimes I just don't see my afflictions as having possibly come from the Lord. They often are: children fighting, a messy bathroom after I just cleaned it up, a dishwasher that leaves dried food particles on anything on the top rack making it necessary to rewash more items than I'd like, spilled drinks as a result of goofing around, stains on a bunch of the kids shirts that I didn't catch till after they were washed and then dried in permanently, a new meal that took a while to make and tasted awful, quiet time in the afternoon that is anything but quiet (right now, I am on the third child coming out of their room in the first 1/2 hour of their hour of reading and rest time when they have strictly been told DO NOT COME OUT!!!Ahhh!!!).
I share all that, not to complain, but to remind myself that all those things came to me after going through God's hands first. And they almost always serve to show me what is really in my heart as my irritation and frustration come pouring out. But He doesn't give up on me, He keeps pruning me day by day, little by little and, sometimes, in big ways too.... all done in His infinite wisdom and matchless love. And, as I relfect on these truths, I am left speechless and without even one thing to grumble about!
This is a truth we preach often in the Pichura home...but I am amazed how quick I am to be a hearer of the Word and not a doer. Or, to chose to see God's hand in some things but not all... thus, giving me a right to complain and get irritated when I deem the situation to be rediculous or the person involved to be a pain in the neck.
There are so many times I do not take to heart Lamentations 3:37-38, "Who is he who speaks and it comes to pass, when the Lord has not commanded it? Is it not from the mouth of the most High that woe and well being proceed?" And that I do not echo the words of Psalm 119:75 "I know, O Lord, that Your judgements are right and that in faithfulness You have afflicted me."
I think it is because sometimes I just don't see my afflictions as having possibly come from the Lord. They often are: children fighting, a messy bathroom after I just cleaned it up, a dishwasher that leaves dried food particles on anything on the top rack making it necessary to rewash more items than I'd like, spilled drinks as a result of goofing around, stains on a bunch of the kids shirts that I didn't catch till after they were washed and then dried in permanently, a new meal that took a while to make and tasted awful, quiet time in the afternoon that is anything but quiet (right now, I am on the third child coming out of their room in the first 1/2 hour of their hour of reading and rest time when they have strictly been told DO NOT COME OUT!!!Ahhh!!!).
I share all that, not to complain, but to remind myself that all those things came to me after going through God's hands first. And they almost always serve to show me what is really in my heart as my irritation and frustration come pouring out. But He doesn't give up on me, He keeps pruning me day by day, little by little and, sometimes, in big ways too.... all done in His infinite wisdom and matchless love. And, as I relfect on these truths, I am left speechless and without even one thing to grumble about!
Comments
Learning to accept everything from God's hand with thankfulness is something I have been working on for a few years. Why are we always quick to - as you said - bless Him for the good He brings into our life and curse Him for what we see as bad?
We learn and grow much more in the valley. I wish it wern't so, but it is. :-)