Grumbling, Mumbling or Humbling?

In my sermon yesterday, I spoke about complaining. Specifically, how God is aware of our complaints, how God answers our complaints and how God awards those who are committed. I suggested that our complaining or grumbling can lead to mumbling and fumbling God's plan for our lives. But also how grumbling can lead to humbling ourselves under God's plan. Also, when we humble ourselves, our reward it God's protection, God's provision, but also God's praise. Not God's praise of oursevles, but rather our reward is the praise of God by others. The true story below captures how the difficult things of our lives, which we are tempted to complain about, may actually lead to the praise of God by others. Hopefully, it will provide a different perspective on the things we want to complain about. Beams Away!!

Brenda was almost halfway to the top of the tremendous granite cliff. She was standing on a ledge where she was taking a breather during this, her first rock climb. As she rested there, the safety rope snapped against her eye and knocked out her contact lens. "Great", she thought. "Here I am on a rock ledge and now I lose my sight." She felt panicked and began to pray that God may help her find her contact lens.

When she arrived at the top of the mountain, a friend examined here eye and clothing for the lens, but to no avail. Although she was calm after reaching the summit, she was saddened because she could barely see across the range of mountains. She was tempted to start grumbling.

Later, when they had hiked down the trail to the bottom of the cliff they met another party of climbers who were just starting up the face of the cliff. One of them shouted, "Hey, Anybody lose a contact lens?" This would have been startling enough, but even more remarkable was that this climber witnessed the contact lens as it was being carried along by an ant. A cartoon of this true story about the ant carrying the contact lens was devised and the caption read like this, "Lord, I don't know why you want me to cary this thing. I can't eat it, and it's awfully heavy. But if this is what you want me to do, I'll carry it for You." Little did that ant realize that his heavy and seemingly senseless burden lead to the praise of God by someone else.

What are the burdens you may be carrying today? As tempted as you may feel to complain and grumble about it, have faith that God is using it for a purpose, perhaps the most grand purpose of all...that God will be praised for whatever it is that you are carrying in life. This is tough teaching, but it relates to the very purpose of our existence. We exist for God, and not the other way around.