The Complaint Crew
Now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Philippians 4:8 (NLT)
Complaining is like magnetic poles! We start out with positive thoughts and then all of a sudden, we are weighing them. That word maybe sneaks in. What we were convinced was a good thing, now looks a little unsafe or foolish. The world holds tryouts for the complaint crew every day and it’s free to join. We are in! What? It’s not what we thought it would be? How do we get off that crew? Barbranda Lumkins Walls (Mornings with Jesus) writes about her short stint with the negatives.
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During dinner with colleagues while on a work trip, we started talking about our hotel accommodations. I shared that I loved the huge walk-in shower with dual shower heads. But others started to complain about how difficult the shower was to operate—one even griped about the pattern of the shower tile.
Then we began discussing the view from our rooms. One coworker said she could see the river, which I immediately envied. Then I told them my room overlooked the hotel’s unsightly heating system and parking lot. My friend and colleague Shanda quickly piped up, “Barb, you have a nice view. You can see the swimming pool and city streets.” She was right. I felt ashamed that I had so easily joined the complaint crew.
In his letter to Philippians, Paul encourages the church to dwell on the good, honorable, and beautiful. I take that to mean to meditate or focus on the good things around me. What I choose to put into my mind is what feeds my thoughts, actions, and beliefs. So focusing on the good will help me to see it and do it. There’s little room for complaints and dissatisfaction if I look for and think about what is praiseworthy, pure, and godly. Good thoughts can go a long way—including Jesus’s loving-kindness toward me, which includes a view of a lovely hotel pool.
FAITH STEP: What are you complaining about in your life? Instead, write down three good things you can focus on today and thank Jesus for them.
Loving Lord, thank You for being so good to us. Help me to look beyond negative circumstances and hold on to all the beauty that I see around me. AMEN.