Quit Whining and Grow Up

Paul had an incredible challenge ahead of him when he addressed the church in Corinth about their level of maturity.

Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly -- mere infants in Christ. 2 I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. 3 You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men? 4 For when one says, "I follow Paul," and another, "I follow Apollos," are you not mere men? - 1 Corinthians 3:1-5

It's great to see a baby Christian develop and begin to move into maturity. However, when that Christian has supposedly passed through all the growth/development stages and refuses to let go of their pacifier, bib, bottle and blanket, its no longer "cute" it's "sickening."

We all need a gentle rebuke to remind us that we must continue to "grow up" in God. Early on in ministry I learned that ministry isn't a bowl of cherries. People can say mean things to you, life continually throws challenges at you and the ministry can be demanding and difficult!

When I came to BFWC nearly 12 years ago, I thought the church had to be open 24/7 with a buzz of constant activity. After all, time is short and we need to "be about our Father's business!" So, I worked around the clock, did all the visitation, prayed for all the sick, preached all the sermons, attended all the fellowship events, baptized all the believers, performed all the weddings, funerals, dedications, etc. We had concerts, outreach events and non stop productivity.

After a while I was feeling the toll of all this "productivity" on my body and mind. I found myself complaining here and there about being tired and frankly feeling "spent out." I had the opportunity to attend a conference for pastors and while there heard the speaker quote Jeremiah 12:5 "If thou hast run with the footmen, and they have wearied thee, then how canst thou contend with horses? and if in the land of peace, wherein thou trustedst, they wearied thee, then how wilt thou do in the swelling of Jordan? "

Its as if at that moment the Lord was telling me to QUIT WHINING! Quit whining Russell! You had your yes with me at an altar of prayer! You haven't experienced anything yet! What? You think you've faced your toughest battle already? Quit complaining and stay focused.

It's as if God was telling me He was able to find someone else who would follow Him without WHINING!

Talk about humbling! God was dealing with me in my innermost being and confronting my character and rough edges. That's tough for any preacher to admit. LOL You think you've surrendered all and then the Lord says "what do we have here? This has to go too!"

Friend, do you know what that is? It's called "God being faithful to your soul!" It's when God loves you enough to correct you. He desires to perfect you...so He corrects you. His correction is proof positive of His great love for me.

What was I accomplishing with all my complaining anyway? I was making myself more miserable and everyone around me as well. When all you do is complain, you slander the image of Christ to the world. Here's a thought...what if fire fell upon us when we complained as it did upon the children of Israel in Numbers 11:1? Well, there'd probably be less complaining.

Our whining usually starts when we believe news about God or ourselves that isn't true. We also find ourselves complaining when our expectations of life aren't met.

If I've learned anything, I've learned that you do not receive a reward if you whine and most people I know who constantly whine never even make it to the battlefield because they cry at the least discomfort that comes in their life. The truth is, we are so self-absorbed anyway that unless everything is "perfect" we forget that this world is much bigger than us and our tiny problems. Someone out there is facing something much worse than what we're facing right now.

QUIT WHINING and GROW UP!

We're never going to gain victory and higher levels if all we do is sit on the big comfy couch of life and expect everyone to cater to our every whimper. Those kinds of believers are ready to quit at the drop of a hat at the first sign of spiritual combat.

Remember Apostle Paul's own testimony when he shares his testimony in Acts 9 about his radical conversion on the Damascus road? Not everyone was happy about his conversion. In fact, his conversion brought opposition from the Jews - who wanted to kill him.

Honestly, our conversion ought to stir things up!

QUIT WHINING and GROW UP!

Paul didn't give up just because he was threatened and hated! In fact, he ran closer to the Lord. Isn't that just the opposite of what you see happening today in some people's lives? They get a spiritual "hang nail" and they're ready to quit the church...ready to give up on God...ready to RUN AWAY! And most of this is because of their own poor decisions in the first place...rather than God allowing them to experience some "tough love."

Paul didn't RUN AWAY from Jesus...he ran TOWARD Him! Friend...this must become your ONLY option! Run toward Christ...not away from Him. If we stay the course, we'll reap joy unspeakable in the end!

Remember later when Paul testified in Galatians - "For I bear in my body, the marks of Jesus"? What was he saying? Well, literally he had been beaten for the Gospel sake and could even show us real SCARS! What about us? What marks do we have for Jesus?

Let's be honest. Most of us in the United States will never be beaten because of our faith in Jesus. However, we can bear marks in other areas. What about our finances? Our giving ought to support God's kingdom efforts even if that means we live more simply so that we can adequately support this effort. In what ever area we bear these marks for our Lord let us do it with passion and fervor!

At the end of our life we will stand before the Lord at the Judgment seat. God will not be looking at our financial portfolio or our educational level. Perhaps what He'll be examining is our "scars." What proof will we be able to offer Him of our love and devotion? It will be the scars of sacrifice we've made for Him that will count on that day.

Again, most of us will never suffer bodily scars for our faith like Paul did or other martyrs in our history books. What would we do if we had to face what Paul did? Consider what he endured:

• Imprisonments and floggings
• Five times he received 39 lashes from the Jews
• Three times he was beaten with rods.
• Once he was stoned.
• He was shipwrecked three times
• Once he spend a night and a day in the open sea.
• He lived a life of constant danger in want and in need.
• He toiled and labored because he did not count his life dear unto himself rather he loved Jesus more than his own life.

These are considered to be credentials of his apostleship. And yet, at the end of his life Paul considered these as NOTHING compared to the testimony of how God used him to turn the world upside down.

God is looking for these kind of people. People who don't WHINE and COMPLAIN all the time. People who are determined to allow their character to be showcased for the Lord.

When the Lord is LORD of our lives we will be set free from that WIMPY, WHINNY, SPINELESS disposition! When He is LORD we'll stop complaining about our problems and start praising Him for His grace & mercy.

QUIT WHINING and GROW UP!

Complaining is telling God that we don't want His Lordship over our lives, that we think His plans for us are detrimental to our desires and agendas. If only we had the fear of the Lord again. The fear of the Lord would cause us to tremble when we comprehend that our complaining is an accusation against the character of God, an attack upon His very person.

Life is unfair at times. Pain and suffering will come our way. We'll feel like we're being tossed on a raging sea. Complaining will seem like our only option. Yet when our hearts are set upon “Christ as Lord,” and not upon ourselves or earthly things, then we will learn to rest in His perfect love and wisdom no matter what storms we may face.

A character of complaining will disappear when our eyes are fixed upon the Savior’s lovely face.
When the waves are ferocious and it seems that the storm will swallow us up, if we look upon the water we will see Christ’s lovely face as He comes walking out to meet us in our desperate need. In our pain, in our moment of greatest need, if we listen closely, we will hear His sweet voice calling us to come to Him.

But we must get out of the worthless boat we have constructed of self-trust and self-absorption and step into the midst of the raging storm. Everything in us will cry “save yourself.” The world will think we are mad. But His hand will be there to rescue us. In His presence the fiercest storms cannot disturb us; we are safe in His arms.