A Challenge for You

You hear complaints every day - about the weather, the driver in front of you, the cost of gas, how long it takes at the drive-thru..... The list goes on and on.

I recently was reminded of this. Where I live in Pennsylvania has been having several weeks of fluctuating temperatures. You hear people complain because it is too hot, too cold, too sunny, too rainy. God drew my attention to this as I looked back over my joy journal over the past month or so, and each entry I mentioned praise to God for a beautiful day. It didn't matter to me if if was hot, cold, rainy, sunny, or whatever. Each day I found something about the weather to be thankful for.

Don't get me wrong, I have never considered myself a positive person. I often look at the negative side of things, or so I thought. But as I look back over the past year or so, I realize that God has been doing a gradual change in my heart. I have been praying for I don't know how long, that God would change me and make me into what He desires for me to be. I mentioned in an earlier blog that each day I pray to "see, hear, and feel" God in a new way. God has been using this not only to draw me closer to Him, but also to change how I view things as well.

I don't know that I can say that I have gone an entire day without complaining about something. But God was showing me this morning that it is a new area I need to attempt. How about you. Have you ever gone an entire day without murmuring (or thinking) a complaint? How about two days, a week, a month, a lifetime? Our goal is to not complain at all, like it says in scripture. "Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe." Philippians 2:14-15

People sure would take notice if they never hear you uttering a complaint. Are you willing to take the challenge of the verses and walk a life without complaint? How about we start today?