Well That’s Inconvenient!

 

Several months ago, Neal and I were traveling from one hospital visit to another.  Several events happened throughout the day which put us in a bit of a rush.  As you might expect, this is usually when something goes wrong.  On this day, we hit very slow moving traffic.  We looked around for flashing lights and for any sign of the problem ahead of us.  Eventually we made it up to a man whose car was in the middle of the road, with flashers on, and his hood up.  As we passed by the man and his broken down vehicle, Neal said something I won’t soon forget.  He simply stated, “No one is more inconvenienced than him.”

Far too often we get focused on our own little world.  We come across an accident and think, “Perfect…now I’m going to be late,” “I can’t believe this is happening to me” or, “Well this is terribly inconvenient for me.”  We need to change our perspective.  What we forget is that, while it poses a slight problem for us, not a single person is more inconvenienced than the person in trouble.  That person might have had some very important event or appointment to keep as well!  Instead of thinking of the other person, though, we think only of ourselves.

In situations like these, our lives become inconvenienced and we respond with grumbling and complaining.  Have we really become people who fuss and complain when things don’t go our way?  Today, we label people who fit this mold “spoiled brats.” 

Philippians 2:14 clearly states, “Do all things without grumbling or disputing.”

This applies across the board in all situations.  It doesn’t say “some things” or even “most things,” but it says, “all things.”  Christians are to be people who aren’t complainers.  This is a difficult thing to do.  If I am honest with myself, and if you are honest with yourself, I think we could all say that we need to improve ourselves in this area.  We complain too often and too easily. 

This life is not about having everything convenient for us.  It’s about God’s will and what makes Him happy.  God doesn’t want us to be a bunch of complainers like the nation of Israel (Numbers 11:1-4).   Let’s change the way we think, act, and respond to situations that are inconvenient to us.