(Poem by Jess Kenner)
Today, upon a bus, I saw a lovely girl with golden hair.
I envied her…she seemed so gay…and wished I were as fair.
When suddenly she rose to leave, I saw her hobble down the aisle;
She had one leg and wore a crutch, but as she passed….a smile!
Oh, God, forgive me when I whine, I have two legs. The world is mine.
I stopped to buy some candy. The lad who sold it had such charm.
I talked to him. He seemed so glad.
And as I left he said to me, ”I thank you. You have been so kind.
It’s nice to talk with folks like you. You see, he said, “I’m blind.”
Oh God forgive me when I whine! I have two eyes. The world is mine.
Later, while walking down the street, I saw a child with eyes of blue.
He stood and watched the others play: he did not know what to do.
I stopped a moment, then I said, “Why don’t you join the others, dear?”
He looked ahead without a word, and then I knew he could not hear.
Oh, God, forgive me when I whine. I have two ears. The world is mine.
With feet to take me where I’d go, with eyes to see the sunset’s glow,
With ears to hear what I would know…..
Oh, God, forgive me when I whine! I’m blessed indeed, the world is mine.
*****
Now that you have just read this inspirational poem let us face it, that it does not take very long for each of us to start whining. The slightest thing can trigger whining. For example, the slightest temporary lack of water, food, clothing, money or any lack of convenience such as the television going out during a heavy rainstorm or the battery dying down on our car or our computer networks not working as quickly as we like, or the remote control needs a new battery, etc.. Unfortunately, the best of us will finally complain or whine if the pressure increases beyond our normal expectations.
When we whine that speaks of unbelief and it is contagious. That is why Christians are encouraged to praise God. You see as Christians we have to understand that whatever we do and how we respond it will also be contagious. If we praise God and have faith, that will surely be contagious. And the opposite is true if we lack faith and function in unbelief that will also be contagious. Now you all said yes that is true BUT remember whining is far more contagious: it is like the kindling that we get to start a huge bonfire. (James 3: 6,8-11).
Some of you are going to say, “ Well, I come from a family of whiners, they never see the good or joy in anything .” But if you are a Christian we are to understand that our victory only comes through what Jesus did for us on the Cross. Our job as Believers is to do only one thing and that is to show faith in Christ and His great sacrifice of Himself.
A reminder: God hears all our whinings and remember that just because God does not immediately take revenge or punishes men immediately for their sins, therefore, He does not notice them. The Bible wants to correct that belief. God sees, God hears and He knows even our motivations. He knows why we do the things we do even when we do not. How many times have you said; “Why did I say that?” “Why did I think that?”
Oh, He heard when Israel whined, complained about the food, the bitter water and even then He cared for them as a tender parent of a headstrong child.
Another word for whining and complaining that shows up in the Bible and that is murmurings. In Exodus 16:12 The Lord very clearly told Israel that He had heard their murmurings, their complaints, their whining. Just a note to point out this was the first sin that was committed by Israel after being delivered from Egyptian bondage. Maybe, that is a good lesson for us to learn. However, all of us Christians seem to hold on to that kind of sin, murmurings, fault finding, complaining, not realizing that it is a complaint against God. The bottom line is that we are telling God that we can do a better job than He is doing . That my brother and sister is showing gross spiritual ignorance and it let’s the world see that we are not very thankful for all the wonderful blessings the Lord has done for us.
Someone once said: you very seldom hear the children of Satan complain about Satan. IF they complain at all, it is that they are not able to serve him more and better. Yes, it is true that we Christians are very quick to complain about God. The truth is, most Christians do not realize that what we are saying is actually complaining against God.
Today, upon a bus, I saw a lovely girl with golden hair.
I envied her…she seemed so gay…and wished I were as fair.
When suddenly she rose to leave, I saw her hobble down the aisle;
She had one leg and wore a crutch, but as she passed….a smile!
Oh, God, forgive me when I whine, I have two legs. The world is mine.
I stopped to buy some candy. The lad who sold it had such charm.
I talked to him. He seemed so glad.
And as I left he said to me, ”I thank you. You have been so kind.
It’s nice to talk with folks like you. You see, he said, “I’m blind.”
Oh God forgive me when I whine! I have two eyes. The world is mine.
Later, while walking down the street, I saw a child with eyes of blue.
He stood and watched the others play: he did not know what to do.
I stopped a moment, then I said, “Why don’t you join the others, dear?”
He looked ahead without a word, and then I knew he could not hear.
Oh, God, forgive me when I whine. I have two ears. The world is mine.
With feet to take me where I’d go, with eyes to see the sunset’s glow,
With ears to hear what I would know…..
Oh, God, forgive me when I whine! I’m blessed indeed, the world is mine.
*****
Now that you have just read this inspirational poem let us face it, that it does not take very long for each of us to start whining. The slightest thing can trigger whining. For example, the slightest temporary lack of water, food, clothing, money or any lack of convenience such as the television going out during a heavy rainstorm or the battery dying down on our car or our computer networks not working as quickly as we like, or the remote control needs a new battery, etc.. Unfortunately, the best of us will finally complain or whine if the pressure increases beyond our normal expectations.
When we whine that speaks of unbelief and it is contagious. That is why Christians are encouraged to praise God. You see as Christians we have to understand that whatever we do and how we respond it will also be contagious. If we praise God and have faith, that will surely be contagious. And the opposite is true if we lack faith and function in unbelief that will also be contagious. Now you all said yes that is true BUT remember whining is far more contagious: it is like the kindling that we get to start a huge bonfire. (James 3: 6,8-11).
Some of you are going to say, “ Well, I come from a family of whiners, they never see the good or joy in anything .” But if you are a Christian we are to understand that our victory only comes through what Jesus did for us on the Cross. Our job as Believers is to do only one thing and that is to show faith in Christ and His great sacrifice of Himself.
A reminder: God hears all our whinings and remember that just because God does not immediately take revenge or punishes men immediately for their sins, therefore, He does not notice them. The Bible wants to correct that belief. God sees, God hears and He knows even our motivations. He knows why we do the things we do even when we do not. How many times have you said; “Why did I say that?” “Why did I think that?”
Oh, He heard when Israel whined, complained about the food, the bitter water and even then He cared for them as a tender parent of a headstrong child.
Another word for whining and complaining that shows up in the Bible and that is murmurings. In Exodus 16:12 The Lord very clearly told Israel that He had heard their murmurings, their complaints, their whining. Just a note to point out this was the first sin that was committed by Israel after being delivered from Egyptian bondage. Maybe, that is a good lesson for us to learn. However, all of us Christians seem to hold on to that kind of sin, murmurings, fault finding, complaining, not realizing that it is a complaint against God. The bottom line is that we are telling God that we can do a better job than He is doing . That my brother and sister is showing gross spiritual ignorance and it let’s the world see that we are not very thankful for all the wonderful blessings the Lord has done for us.
Someone once said: you very seldom hear the children of Satan complain about Satan. IF they complain at all, it is that they are not able to serve him more and better. Yes, it is true that we Christians are very quick to complain about God. The truth is, most Christians do not realize that what we are saying is actually complaining against God.
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