Reality Check-Up

I think that our household is in need of a tune-up. Way back in January, we took a challenge to not complain. And we succeeded quite well at it. In fact, I would say we carried that right through until oh, about the middle of July or so. But lately, I've noticed the complaining has started to creep back a little bit. Shame on us.

So this morning, I turned back to Philippians 2:14-16, and then decided to look it up in the Amplified Bible, to get some fresh perspective on it.

¹⁴"Do all things without grumbling and faultfinding and complaining [against God] and questioning and doubting [among yourselves],

¹⁵That you may show yourselves to be blameless and guiltless, innocent and uncontaminated, children of God without blemish (faultless, unrebukable) in the midst of a crooked and wicked generation [spiritually perverted and perverse], among whom you are seen as bright lights (stars or beacons shining out clearly) in the [dark] world,

¹⁶Holding out [to it] and offering [to all men] the Word of Life, so that in the day of Christ I may have something of which exultantly to rejoice and glory in that I did not run my race in vain or spend my labor to no purpose." Philippians 2:14-16 (AMP)

Do ALL things without grumbling and complaining. Complaining really acheives nothing, all it does is give voice to the concerns that may or may not be rolling around in your head. And you know what that does? That feeds your doubt. When you find yourself doubting a decision you've made, if you're like me, you just kind of keep it to yourself. But then maybe the opportunity will come up in conversation and you are able to voice your doubt (say, with your spouse) and then, where your spouse has been totally pleased with a decision, they now have the same doubt, and right there, the devil is rubbing his hands together thinking to himself that he now has something to work with.

I refuse to let that happen. I fully intend to keep my eyes focused on my God and my precious Heavenly Father who has laid my path before me. I will not allow complaining to leave my lips, to feed other peoples concerns and doubts, and I will look for the silver lining in every situation. Every. Situation.

I feel like I have to share a bit here to clarify what I am saying, because it's not coming out of nowhere. We recently made the decision to stay living in our current home for the time being. We know that God placed the desire in our hearts to move to our beloved Valley, but we also know that it is not quite time for that move yet, we've learned that, we've learned that we will need to be patient. And when the time comes, God has the perfect place for us, and I am trusting in Him completely for that. So over the course of a week or so, the situation completely presented itself to stay right where we are until spring. Honestly, it was a situation that only God could have presented, and I really was in awe as I watched someone else follow through and be obedient to God and a prompting in their heart. A decision was made to stay here until spring, and I will tell you, as soon as we made that decision, as soon as we signed the line on the short-term lease I felt such an amazing peace. I knew that God had this plan for us, and I have been comfortably resting in this decision, and so looking forward to seeing God's Perfect Plan play out for us.

The devil, however, wants us to think that we've made a bad decision. He wants us to think that we should have made a different choice, and he's really making it easy to think that way, to be honest. The way different things have played out just over the last week and a half have really made us want to think that we've made the wrong decisions, and the devil wants us to second-guess God's plans for us, and I also know that the devil would love nothing more than to see us discard God's plan and go with our own plan.

But I will stand firm.

"But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD." Joshua 24:15

You know what I know? I know that our household, our family, belongs to God. And I know that the devil would love to see us flounder and crack, and I know that he is going to try everything he's got to come at us. Except that everything the devil's got is nothing compared to everything that we've got. We've got an Amazing God! We've got the Holy Spirit dwelling within us guiding our every step, our every move, our every thought, and we've got angels, sent from heaven, guarding us at every corner. We've got the precious blood of Jesus flowing within us, and the devil just has no chance. That doesn't mean he won't try, but it does mean that we have nothing to be afraid of.

"The LORD also will be a refuge for the oppressed,
A refuge in times of trouble.
¹⁰ And those who know Your name will put their trust in You;
For You, LORD, have not forsaken those who seek You. " Psalm 9:9,10

We have the ultimate Helper, and we will remain steadfast, and keep our gaze on Him.

"My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth." Psalm 121:2