By Norita Sieffert
In the book "The Seer of Remmon," the main character Jolus is betrayed by his brother. And if that is not enough, he ends up in slavery in some foreign land. None of this is his fault. If anyone has room to complain, it is Jolus.
Regrettably Jolus does gripe a lot. And we are often guilty of griping, too. We make plans but something goes wrong and we get angry. Or we plan our schedules and then someone does something to change them. This really makes us mad. The Bible informs us that we are to leave our plans with God and then trust Him to care for them. But this is so hard to actually do.
The urge to complain is one of our biggest problems. But eliminating this would mean eliminating a large part of our humanity. We don't live in a vacuum or on some desert island. We were made to live with other people. Because this is built right into us it is natural to desire to share our thoughts and feelings with other people.
Sharing all the good things is fine. The problems come in when we also share the bad things. When someone hurts us we want others to know about it. When we don't get that promotion or are overlooked for some reason we want to tell the world how we've been wronged. There is an intense need to have others sympathize with us and feel our pain. This is not so bad when we are grieving or if we have suffered a loss. But when it's because we feel we've been wronged it is another story.
King David had an intense desire to convey the pain he felt when he was wronged. But David was smart because he chose not to pour his sorrow out to others and instead turned to the Lord. We can find a multitude of psalms where David's heart spilled over with pain because others had treated him badly. And he talked to God and asked Him to deal with it for him, and then he left this pain with God. We should endeavor to follow David's lead. But how do we actually do it?
First, we should look inside and see what compels us to want to share all our hurt and pain with other people. What forces us to want to shout out our feelings instead of just keeping quiet? Did something happen to us that we've still not gotten over? Do we think that we are still being treated badly for some reason? What is going on deep down to bring us to the conclusion that God won't be enough?
We must be willing to scrutinize these issues. A lot of people have a keener than average sense of fairness. When things are unjust they get very frustrated and it makes them crazy. Examining the root cause can help a person find their balance again. The fact of the matter is that life is unjust and there's nothing we can do to alter things. But if you can't acknowledge this then you'll spend your life in distress.
Take a little bit of time to try and answer these questions. If there are unresolved issues and you're able to correct them then you should start now before something occurs that you'll regret. If there is nothing you can do then turn to God and ask Him to give you the grace you need every hour. The next time the issue pops up, be ready to turn to God again and again and rely on His strength to survive it.
"O LORD, how my adversaries have increased! Many are rising up against me. But You, O LORD, are a shield about me, my glory, and the One who lifts my head." Ps. 3:1,3 (NASB).
About the Author:
Norita Sieffert, a published author and professional speaker who also battled with the same problems and practices overcoming them on a daily basis. She has arrived at a place of complete commitment to faith in Jesus Christ. If you would like to view her latest Christian fiction titles on Kindle, go to her online bookstore (http://tinyurl.com/8rf5y3e) .
In the book "The Seer of Remmon," the main character Jolus is betrayed by his brother. And if that is not enough, he ends up in slavery in some foreign land. None of this is his fault. If anyone has room to complain, it is Jolus.
Regrettably Jolus does gripe a lot. And we are often guilty of griping, too. We make plans but something goes wrong and we get angry. Or we plan our schedules and then someone does something to change them. This really makes us mad. The Bible informs us that we are to leave our plans with God and then trust Him to care for them. But this is so hard to actually do.
The urge to complain is one of our biggest problems. But eliminating this would mean eliminating a large part of our humanity. We don't live in a vacuum or on some desert island. We were made to live with other people. Because this is built right into us it is natural to desire to share our thoughts and feelings with other people.
Sharing all the good things is fine. The problems come in when we also share the bad things. When someone hurts us we want others to know about it. When we don't get that promotion or are overlooked for some reason we want to tell the world how we've been wronged. There is an intense need to have others sympathize with us and feel our pain. This is not so bad when we are grieving or if we have suffered a loss. But when it's because we feel we've been wronged it is another story.
King David had an intense desire to convey the pain he felt when he was wronged. But David was smart because he chose not to pour his sorrow out to others and instead turned to the Lord. We can find a multitude of psalms where David's heart spilled over with pain because others had treated him badly. And he talked to God and asked Him to deal with it for him, and then he left this pain with God. We should endeavor to follow David's lead. But how do we actually do it?
First, we should look inside and see what compels us to want to share all our hurt and pain with other people. What forces us to want to shout out our feelings instead of just keeping quiet? Did something happen to us that we've still not gotten over? Do we think that we are still being treated badly for some reason? What is going on deep down to bring us to the conclusion that God won't be enough?
We must be willing to scrutinize these issues. A lot of people have a keener than average sense of fairness. When things are unjust they get very frustrated and it makes them crazy. Examining the root cause can help a person find their balance again. The fact of the matter is that life is unjust and there's nothing we can do to alter things. But if you can't acknowledge this then you'll spend your life in distress.
Take a little bit of time to try and answer these questions. If there are unresolved issues and you're able to correct them then you should start now before something occurs that you'll regret. If there is nothing you can do then turn to God and ask Him to give you the grace you need every hour. The next time the issue pops up, be ready to turn to God again and again and rely on His strength to survive it.
"O LORD, how my adversaries have increased! Many are rising up against me. But You, O LORD, are a shield about me, my glory, and the One who lifts my head." Ps. 3:1,3 (NASB).
About the Author:
Norita Sieffert, a published author and professional speaker who also battled with the same problems and practices overcoming them on a daily basis. She has arrived at a place of complete commitment to faith in Jesus Christ. If you would like to view her latest Christian fiction titles on Kindle, go to her online bookstore (http://tinyurl.com/8rf5y3e) .