Sunday, January 11, 2009

complaints....

This morning I felt the Lord speak to me in regard to my heart and its state lately. There were two phrases that just spoke loudly to me:

First, "the circumstances you complain about become the chains that imprison you. And worship is the way out." Wow... that alone just... is such a powerful statement. Why would I want to become more bound up by my circumstances? I was reminded of all the hard times in the past where I have been in difficult situations and I had to literally force myself to Praise the Lord and worship Him for His goodness in spite of how things looked or even felt. I know I am at a similar place again. I have a heavy heart and I have been imprisoned by my complaints. As I was driving this morning the words of another song came to my mind and I began to sing it quietly...

All of my life,
In every season
You are still God
I have a reason to sing
I have a reason to worship

It was all I could remember at the time but somehow I knew it was a good place to start.

Then a scripture was shared this morning which included "save your critical comments for yourself. You might be needing forgiveness before the day is out." ... I was struck with how it easy it is to complain and be critical of others because we base our complaints on our perspective alone. At this moment I am reminded of something I told my son last night... People are just people, they aren't perfect and they will fail or disappoint us. The amazing thing is though... GOD will NEVER fail us. He is still and always will be GOD.

The chorus of the song is a fitting conclusion:

I will bring praise
I will bring praise
No weapon formed against me shall remain

I will rejoice
I will declare
God is my victory and He is here.

The song is called Desert song (by Hillsong).


What an awesome God He is to remind me that I have a reason to worship. He really is good, isn't He?

2 comments:

Kate Geisen said...

You really have me thinking with that line about circumstances we complain about becoming the chains that imprison us. I'm a huge complainer (trying hard to retrain myself)...maybe that's why I feel so heavy so much of the time. The visual of each complaint being another chain wrapping around me, dragging me down...and choosing to praise God instead providing a key to that chain...that's powerful.

Thank you so much for sharing this. You speak to my heart so often. :)

Cheri' said...

Don't you love it when God speaks truth to our hearts? Sometimes it's not what we want to hear, yet it's exactly what we need.

The visual picture of those chains makes me really stop and take note of my heart and what's going on inside it.

Thanks for listening to that "still small voice", Bonnelle and for repeating what you heard! It's good for me to hear it and obey!