Happy Valentine's Day!!!! I hope we remember the greatest gift of love today - Jesus on that cross for us. We are free because of Him.
As you know, if you've been following my blog, I've been reading through the Bible this year. I've also been studying the book by Linda Dillow called, "What's It Like To Be Married To Me?" and I've been memorizing Romans chapter 1. It's amazing to me how these three things have come together to work on a specific area in my life.
Thankfulness.
Each day, with a few skipped days, I have been reviewing my verses on Scripture Typer at www.scripturetyper.com . It's been a rewarding task on my to-do list. I have really dug in deep and gleaned more than I would from reading a text. So lately I've been typing over and over the words "nor were thankful".
Then as I've been reading in Numbers 13 and 14, the story of the 12 spies sent in to spy out the land. They freaked out and got all worked up over the enormity of the job of conquering the land.
As I read I was thinking, "What a lot! Grumbling and complaining all the time!!" God has shown them so much and yet here they were getting all worried about doing as God had asked, as if He wouldn't care for them and give them the power and strength to do it.
And finally in Linda Dillow's book, she has a section on griping. O.k., o.k. I'm starting to see a connection here. And I don't think it's about the Israelites anymore, I think it's about me.
Grumbling and complaining, oh no, never in my house. Well, I might but only if you're bickering and complaining about the food. So I'll complain about you complaining.
Nor were thankful
I'm not really sure of this. The Bible doesn't spell it out quite like this, but I believe that if we're thanking God for things there is no way we can complain about those things or even anything else at the same time. Thankfulness leaves no room for complaining.
If the Israelites had instead turned to the God who had brough water from a rock,
who had brought quail in to feed 2.5 million people,
who had manna falling from heaven,
who didn't let their shoes wear out - hey, I'm buying shoes every little bit it seems for one or another in this house!
What if they had chosen to be thankful? Sometimes that's hard. You don't have anything to drink and you need some water - how can you be thankful in such things? I contend that you only have one recourse (aside from the complaining) that is to thank God that He brought you through the Red Sea just days before and trust Him to supply your need.
Can you imagine what would have happened if the people would have ignored the 10 spies and listened to Caleb and Joshua? They would have skipped all that wandering in the wilderness. The 10 spies were immediately struck down. I know God is wise and knows what He's doing, but I was thinking, "Hey, that's too easy for them. They get to die right away? While all the others have to wander around and still not enter the promised land?"
And what would happen in my house, if instead of grumbling about a situation, I were thankful. Thankful for an opportunity to serve, thankful for a home, thankful for a family, for a husband who works hard and comes home, thankful for healthy children - though sometimes I may feel they have been given too much energy.
If nothing else, in the midst of a trial, be thankful for the cross, even if it's something outside the situation. Linda Dillow uses bracelets to help us catch ourselves complaining. Every time you complain you switch the bracelet. Could you go a whole day without complaining? or is 10 minutes more your challenge? I think if you count thoughts, mine would fall to the latter.
Making the most of today,
Steph
Today we're reading to Numbers 18 and Psalm 20 and I'm still working on verses 23 and 24 in Romans. Just didn't get to it yesterday, working on Valentine's crafts for today.
Have a wonderful day!
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