“Easy to Complain!”
It was inevitable, wasn’t it? After one of the wettest springs I can remember, it has now turned off dry, hasn’t it? DRY, DRY, DRY! Can’t speak for your neck of the woods. But, here at the parsonage, we’ve not had enough rain to “settle the dust”. With the months of April and May being so wet, we couldn’t even get our gardens planted, then June got dry. Best I could tell, the last appreciable rain we had was on the first Sunday of June- June 2nd. Then, it was three weeks to the day, Sunday, June 23rd, before we got another drop of rain at the parsonage. But even that wasn’t much.
Complain, complain, complain! Emoji- LOL! It’s just what we do, isn’t it? We’re complainers for the most part. We complain when it’s too wet! We complain when it’s too dry! And to be honest, since confession is good for the soul, I may be the biggest complainer of them all. I have fussed (under my breath) every evening for the past several weeks when I’ve carried gallon jugs of water to the garden to try and keep my tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers alive. Thank goodness, I’ve not gone so far that one could say, “it’d make a preacher cuss!”. Thankful for the Holy Spirit’s work in our lives,
our brains, AND OUR MOUTHS.
So, what do you have to say, Pastor Tim? I’ll say this. As bad as I am for complaining, I’m reminded of the words of the psalmist in Psalm 37:25. He said, “I was young and now I’m old, but I have never seen the righteous left all alone, and have never seen their children begging for bread.” There has never been a year when I’ve raised a garden that I could not come up with a fresh red ripe tomato! Not once! If it came down to it, though it has happened seldom, I could always find a produce stand somewhere and buy one. You see, God supplied the money (even if He didn’t supply the rain) for me to be able to go purchase that tomato.
Isn’t that the way it is for us all? Even with all our moaning and groaning and complaining (sounds a bit like the children of Israel coming out of Egypt), God always supplies our need and a whole bunch of our wants.
I’ll close with this scripture. Some will probably say I’m taking it out of context, and maybe I am. But it’s still true for me, and it’s still true for most of us if we’re honest with ourselves. But our old friend, the oft-quoted Apostle Paul says in Philippians 4:19, “And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”
That just about covers it, doesn’t it! See you in August (when the real hot weather hits).
Blessings!
Pastor Tim