LESS Complaining

I had to do a few deep dives to get here. I wanted to complain less, but also wanted to be able to express, rather than suppress struggles. As I did some study, I found that the sin the Bible talks about in relation to complaining is grumbling and discontent (Got Questions, n.d.). The healthy, godly way to deal with tough times is to take them to the Lord in prayer for help, to trust God, and to believe that He will take care of things. So with that, I wrote Philippians 2:14-15 on my to-do list every day and sought to find a grateful perspective for a least two "bad" things that happened each day.

“Do everything without complaining and arguing, so that no one can criticize you. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people” (New Living Translation, Philippians 2:14-15).

My husband says I am a pessimist, and I always argued with him that I was a realist. Well, maybe he is right. The more I tried to see the sunny side, the more I realized that as 1 Thessalonians 5;16 commands, there really is a reason to give thanks in all things, even things I don't like. I might not like walking uphill on the treadmill, but it did allow me to read some good books while on it. The commute to work may be long, but at least I was not sidelined with a blown out tire. Work stress might stress me out, but at least I have a job. I might not be running as much as I would like, but I am running again. I had a lot to do before our vacation, but we got to take a two week vacation. What a privilege.

The Lord is really working on my heart, friends. I have a long way to go, but praise the Lord, there is MORE than enough of His grace and mercy and strength to carry me through. 

"Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you; he will neither fail you nor abandon you." (Deuteronomy 31:8).

References:

Got Questions. (n.d.). What does the Bible say about complaining? https://www.gotquestions.org/Bible-complaining.html

New Living Translation. (2015). Bible Gateway. https://www.biblegateway.com/versions/New-Living-Translation-NLT-Bible/