Do everything without grumbling or complaining...

May 12:
Living a Life that Matters…

Philippians 2:14-16
‘Do everything readily and cheerfully—no bickering, no second-guessing allowed! Go out into the world uncorrupted, a breath of fresh air in this squalid and polluted society. Provide people with a glimpse of good living and of the living God. Carry the light-giving Message into the night so I’ll have good cause to be proud of you on the day that Christ returns. You’ll be living proof that I didn’t go to all this work for nothing.’

I love that these were the verses that I read this morning. It’s perfect timing really since today is Mother’s Day. My mom loves the first part of these verses & I can’t tell you how many times she recited them to us over the years… “Do everything without grumbling & complaining”… this is the paraphrased Linda Miller version of course. She despised whining & I think it was her subtle, spiritual way of telling us to “suck it up”. I have to admit that at the time, we found it quite annoying but now I can see the wisdom in her desire to encourage us to look at the bright side of things, to focus on finding a solution & not dwell on the difficulties of the moment. Think about it for a minute. It’s hard to be around someone who complains & whines all the time. It’s those that choose to focus on the positive that bring light & encouragement to a dark moment. What a great reminder that the way we respond to life’s challenges can influence the world for Jesus. How do we want to be remembered? 

“The cynics, they can only speak of the dark, of the obvious, and this is not hard. For all it’s supposed sophistication, it’s cynicism that’s simplistic. In a fallen world, how profound is to see the cracks?
The sages and prophets, the disciples and revolutionaries, they are the ones up on the ramparts, up on the wall pointing to the dawn of the new Kingdom coming, pointing to the light that breaks through all things broken, pointing to redemption always rising and to the Blazing God who never sleeps.” - Ann Voskamp