During Thanksgiving this year, my habit of complaining was exposed for what it is\u2014ugly.\u00a0 Believe me, I didn\u2019t like what I saw when I started looking at this issue in myself.\u00a0 This skill has been way too so easy for me to master, and I think it\u2019s time to deal with it.\u00a0 Here are some of the ridiculous things I\u2019ve grumbled about, some of them recently:<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 1) A driver pulls out in front of me and then drives\u2014how dare he\u2014five miles per hour below the speed limit.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2) A day turns cloudy and windy when I planned to take a walk.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 3) A new recipe fails for\u2014how embarrassing\u2014Thanksgiving dinner.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 4) For the 5th<\/sup> time in a day, the radio station plays that song I\u2019m sick of.\u00a0 I know it talks about God, but I just don\u2019t like it.<\/p>\n When I see my \u201cwhines\u201d in print, I feel silly.\u00a0 Really?\u00a0 Are any them that <\/em>important in the scheme of eternity?\u00a0 And believe me, the above list isn\u2019t conclusive. \u00a0How dare I complain about such trivial stuff when I have so much to be thankful for!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Please understand that I\u2019m not minimizing the difficult issues of life or the incredible burdens that some people carry on a day-to-day basis.\u00a0 No one makes this journey without experiencing times of darkness and confusion.\u00a0 Sometimes bad things happen, to us or to our loved ones.\u00a0 It can be a challenge in the midst of difficulties to find anything to be grateful for.\u00a0 We may have to hunt and long and hard for them, but I\u2019m convinced they are there.<\/p>\n The Apostle Paul was familiar with hardships, including imprisonment and beatings.\u00a0 He wrote:\u00a0 \u201cgive thanks in all circumstances; for this is God\u2019s will for you in Christ Jesus.\u201d (I Thessalonians 5:18, NIV)<\/em> That verse used to cause me pain.\u00a0 How could God expect us to always be thankful? \u00a0Then, I realized that it says in<\/strong> all circumstances\u2014not for<\/strong>.\u00a0 God knows when you are going through a rough stretch.\u00a0 He will help you get to the other side of whatever situation you find yourself in.<\/p>\n So, if you are going through a stormy time right now, try looking for things to be thankful for in your life. Ask God to show you what those things are and make a list.\u00a0 You may be surprised with what you come up with, and how you can still be at peace in the middle of some tough days.<\/p>\n Remember that God loves you and wants the very best for you.<\/p>\n Be encouraged, Tammy<\/p>\n \u201c. . . <\/em>let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,<\/em> fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.\u201d\u00a0 (Hebrews 12:1b-3, NAS)<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a92012 Tammy Maseberg All Rights Reserved<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" During Thanksgiving this year, my habit of complaining was exposed for what it is\u2014ugly.\u00a0 Believe me, I didn\u2019t like what I saw when I started looking at this issue in myself.\u00a0 This skill has been way too so easy for me to master, and I think it\u2019s time to deal with it.\u00a0 Here are some […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[26,25,24],"class_list":["post-104","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-a-word-from-tammy-maseberg","tag-being-grateful","tag-giving-thanks","tag-thanksgiving","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inhisstepsministry.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inhisstepsministry.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inhisstepsministry.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inhisstepsministry.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inhisstepsministry.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=104"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inhisstepsministry.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inhisstepsministry.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=104"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inhisstepsministry.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=104"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inhisstepsministry.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=104"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}