I hate it when the preacher steps on my toes, as if he has written the sermon just for me. This morning a cousin of mine was complaining about things via social media. She has some truly valid reasons to be discouraged. She has been deemed "essential" during this pandemic and the stress is heavy. She's had enough of all the negative that keeps being heaped upon her. But while writing a comment that I hoped would be encouraging to her, I got that feeling.... The feeling my toes were being stepped on.
Murmuring is said to be the soft, low, indistinct sounds expressing discontent. When I think of this word I’m always reminded of the Israelites. Oh my, did they ever murmur, complain, and feel sorry for themselves?! One murmur led to another until they were all making a low, buzzing sound of indecipherable noise expressing their complete discontent, forgetting all God had done for them.
It’s easy for me to pass judgment on those Israelite because it is clearly evident on this side of history all that had been done for them, paving their way to freedom. They were enslaved in Egypt and lived through the plagues. As they were being chased, Moses led them through the parting of the Red Sea. They were fed with manna from heaven and guided by a cloud by day and fire by night. Yet with all this glory they were almost instant to grumble and murmur while they waited for Moses to come down from the mountain with the commandments of God. In fact they were so disgruntled they built a golden calf to worship. After all God had done and provided for them, they were quick to forget Him. And they wandered about the desert for forty years. Forty YEARS!
As we are weathering this COVID19 storm I’m reminded that we are a soft-skinned people. I chief amongst them! While our ancestors fought in wars, worked fields by hand, lived through the Depression, survived the Holocaust, came to American on packed, illness saturated ships to escape famine, lived through slavery, fought in the War of American Independence, the Civil War, the French/American war, the Korean War, World Wars I and II, Vietnam, Desert Storm, the War on Terror, the Civil Rights movement, the list goes on and on. And here we soft-skinned people sit with no calluses built up to face trials.
The complaining has out grown past the murmuring stage and now reached the pitiful, whining stage. Why? Because we’ve had one month of shut downs, lack of usual income, and self-induced shortages of toilet paper, dry beans, and hand-sanitizer. We’ve experienced one month of restricted movement. Outside of doctors, nurses, and other folks who have been deemed essential, most of us has been forced to stay at home. For. One. Month. I know there are some who are truly suffering during this time, but I’m referring to we lily-livered, soft-skinned lot.
Philippians 2:14 says clearly, “Do all things without murmurings and disputing.” I’ve been reading this passage over and over. It does not say, “Do some things without murmurings and disputing,” or , “Do the easy things without murmurings and disputing,” or, “Do the things you want to without murmurings and disputing,” or, “Do a few things without murmurings and disputing.” It clearly says, “Do ALL THINGS.”
We are such a spoiled group of people. Y’all excuse me while I go do some work to toughen up my skin.
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