The Whinery

The devotional I read today struck a chord with me. It reflected some thoughts that had been rattling around in my head over the past days/weeks. The topic of the devotional was about how God uses the pressures of life to improve us, improve our walk with Him, etc. The writer likened it to how grapes under pressure get the juice squeezed out, which can produce fine wine. It immediately hit me that too often I just produce a lot of whine! The writer actually mentions "whine" at the bottom of the article.

My whining is sometimes obvious to others, but usually I keep it to myself, so it outwardly manifests itself in other ways (irritability, impatience, indulgence, discouragement, etc).

This relates somewhat to "pain management" that I wrote about before. For example, over the past months I have had a pain in my hip joints. It comes and goes in intensity, but it is usually there when I get out of a chair, walk, sneeze, etc. For those who don't know me, I move fast. I walk fast, I jump from one thing to another, I get up, move, sit down-all very quickly, so I don't waste time in transit. My new-found pain slows me down a bit. I have a couple choices, other than medication. I can either complain about how unfair it is that someone with so much to do is hampered by pain, or I can be more sympathetic and patient when someone in front of me at the store is moving slowly. Maybe walking is painful for them. I can now relate to that. Now that scenario is less likely to increase my anxiety (I'm in a hurry and I can't get past this guy!) and more likely to prompt me to say a silent prayer for the struggling person, or perhaps give them a hand at getting something off the shelf and into their cart. Don't get me wrong, I'm still struggling with impatience, but the pain in my hip is helping with that!

I have been asking God over the past month or so to reveal to me the source of some of my persisting bad habits. I know that just trying to eliminate bad habits, without eliminating the source, is like cutting the leaves off weeds without pulling them out by the roots. So, I have asked again, and again, for God to show me the root of my bad habits. I think it is the whine.

I guess I need to ask forgiveness for all the whine I have produced, and ask for my eyes to be opened when given an opportunity to produce wine.

The photo was taken from my hotel room in a small town in the south part of Thailand. This is what these two guys did every day, the motorbikes are what they use to commute to their "office." Many, many people live this way. Many more live much worse. Shall I whine when a client provides me with a cobbled-up, noisy, uncomfortable office space, or shall I have sympathy for those who work and live every day in difficult, dirty, noisy, uncomfortable circumstances? Whine or wine. It is up to me as to which is produced.

This Faith Thing

I am a planner. I get a vision or some objective in my sights, and then I plan all the steps to get there, order them appropriately, and assign a schedule for each task to ensure that the vision/objective is achieved by the target date. That is a very useful skill in my profession, and it can be very useful in my pursuit of life goals. However, there is one small problem. At least one problem, actually, at least two.

First, my "schedule" has not typically included any flexibility to attend to unforeseen needs, such as the needs of others, or time to just enjoy my life.
Second, my actions are limited to those required to meet the vision or objective formed in my mind, rather than taking actions that may lead to a goal that only God understands. So, I may be limiting His use of me. His objectives could be much larger than I can comprehend. They may even occur years after I have left this earth.

Today’s devotional hit a chord with me.

From "My Utmost for His Highest," Oswald Chambers, March 19, 2008:
"Living a life of faith means never knowing where you are being led. But it does mean loving and knowing the One who is leading. It is literally a life of faith, not of understanding and reason—a life of knowing Him who calls us to go. Faith is rooted in the knowledge of a Person, and one of the biggest traps we fall into is the belief that if we have faith, God will surely lead us to success in the world."

This clears things up for me. Sometimes I think faith is just doing stuff that makes no sense but I should probably do it because He probably wants me to and it shows I have faith in God – or something along those lines. Sometimes I think that I am showing a lack of faith when I work hard to accomplish tasks (because maybe I am relying on my own strength and don’t really think that God can do it without me-and so on). A book I am reading "10 Secrets for the Man in the Mirror" is opening my eyes a bit more. The author explains, with Biblical support, that we are to do our best, work hard, and improve our abilities to serve. It is not that we are working hard because we think we have to "pick up the slack" for God. We do our part (listen, learn, obey, work) and He does His part (ensure the outcome that He desires). We (I) get into trouble when I believe the outcome is entirely up to me.

So here is what I learned today. My faith is actually my belief that the one I’m following (God) is leading me through the best path, to accomplish His divine objectives. My job is to understand who God is so I will know when He is doing the leading, and then to make my best effort to do those tasks he sets before me. His job is to orchestrate the results.

Another sticky point is how to know His will. I can’t say I’ve got that completely tackled, but I am getting more comfortable with it. I get to know Him primarily by prayer and Bible study. I know that I am off track or running ahead when I don’t seem to have time for other people’s needs, and time to enjoy my own life, or when my activities or the fruits run counter to His nature.

I have a greater understanding of this now. Let’s see how I apply it.

Oh, the photo is of a dog named faith. You can click on the photo to go the site and read an interesting story.