Beyond Imagination
Tenth Sunday after Pentecost
Psalm 145:10-18 and Ephesians 3:14-21
July 28, 2024
Several years ago, I read a great book by Will Bowen titled, “A Complaint Free World, How to Stop Complaining and Start Enjoying the Life You Always Wanted” which is probably one of the best books I have ever read.
The book challenges you to 21 days free of your grumbling and complaining to allow yourself to reflect more on positive things in order to begin seeing the joy in your life.
While research suggests that people tend to complain more than they compliment, it is evident in both of our scriptures today that praise is the action in practice.
Our Psalmist reminds us that because of the great and mighty deeds of our Lord, we are to respond by giving thanks. When we see that the Lord is faithful in all that is provided to us, why would we complain?
Just this past week, I prayed that the rain would hold off on Monday. Now, certainly with these hot days that we are having, any drop of rain we receive is a beneficial gift from God. It helps our plants live and it cools down the temps so we can grab a breath of fresh air from the suffering heat.
So why on earth would I be praying for the rain to hold off on Monday. The reality is that I would have been okay if it had rained all day, but just not between the hours of 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. Why? Because my brother had built me a new potting bench that he has been working on for months, and Monday evening was the time he had to deliver it from Nashville, Georgia to my house in Valdosta.
First of all, do any of you know a worse time to deliver anything in this town between the hours of 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. when traffic is at its worse?! And then to add rain in would be terribly worrisome for safety.
So, on last Saturday, I started praying that the rain would hold off long enough to get the bench delivered safely to my house. I checked the weather and saw that every day this past week showed rain except Monday. I thanked the Lord for this good fortune and prayed that the weather forecast would hold up!
All day I prayed the rain would hold off long enough for everything and everyone involved to be safe in order to get my bench delivered.
At about 4:30 p.m., I text my brother and said, no rain here…any there? To which he replied, “Nope everything is clear…just a little thunder in the distance.” To which I replied, “Same here!”
Then about 5 p.m. when they were pulling out with the bench, I walked to the window and saw that the clouds had rolled in, and it was getting dark outside, and the wind was picking up…a sure sign of rain. I began to pray harder, “Please, Lord, if the rain can hold off for a couple hours until my bench gets safely delivered.”
About 5:45 p.m., my brother arrives with the bench…..in the rain…..but I’m still praying, “Lord, if the rain can just stop a few minutes until we get this unloaded.”
Now you all, this is not a prefabricated bench we are talking about. It’s an 8’foot cedar bench with cabinets, drawers and a metal roof. To say that it is heavy is an understatement. When I greet my sister-in-law, as I’m standing in the rain, she says she has been praying the entire journey that they get their safely.
To make a long story short, with help of a lot of family, we safely got the bench unloaded and in its position….in the rain!
Later, as I’m blessing our dinner and giving praise for the safety of all who had helped build and deliver my bench, it occurred to me that because of the rain, the temperature had cooled down enough that we could better bear the heat.
So, all the while, I was praying for what “I” wanted, the Lord new what we needed. The rain was not a pour down rain by the time the bench arrived, but a slow rain that kept the temperatures cool while we worked.
While I was praying for the rain to stop, and complaining about the rain, the work got done. We laughed, we made sure we were careful, and everything worked. God had a plan, and my prayer for safety was definitely answered.
When we get beyond the complaints, we can often see the good. When we get self out of the way we can see that God is faithful and gracious in his good deeds for us.
In his book, Pastor Bowen developed what he described as a “life-changing” plan on the simple idea that good things will happen for you in abundance if you can just leave your grumbling behind.
He provides a list of words to try, for instance:
Instead of “Problem”, try to think of it as an “Opportunity.”
Instead of “Have to,” try “Get to.”
Rather than “Setback” consider “Challenge.”
Rather than “Enemy” consider “Friend.”
Instead of thinking someone or something is your “Tormentor” think of them or the situation as a “Teacher” or “Teaching moment.”
Instead of a “Struggle” try “Journey,” and there are many others, but I think you get the idea. Turn a negative into a positive. Turn your complaint into something that can bring joy.
When we push ourselves to see our complaints, our grumblings as opportunities to grow spiritually for our well-being, the possibilities are beyond imagination.
In Paul’s prayer in our Ephesians scripture, we are reminded that we are granted strength through our faith in Christ to dwell in our hearts, and because of this action by us, we are being rooted and grounded in love!
Christ’s love is all-encompassing and surpasses our knowledge. In other words, when we don’t have all the answers, Christ’s love is sufficient, and in absence of knowledge our faith is enough to receive the fullness of God.
We can make these changes in our thought processes from complaints to praise by the power of God’s work in us to be able to accomplish abundantly…not just enough to get by…but abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine.
God wants us to stay positive and think of ways to grow spiritually rather than getting stuck in the mire of all that is wrong. The wrong weighs us down, and when we have faith of what can be, and allow God to work in us and through us, the sky is the limit.
So, we have to ask ourselves, do we want to continue to chew on the bad tasting worms of life, or praise God for all that we have, and all that is continually bestowed upon us. Are we ready for our spiritual food in our due season?
At the end of his book, Pastor Bowen includes a few testimonials, one of which I will share by Rick Silvey, a college professor:
‘If someone would have told me when I embarked upon this adventure that it would take so long to complete, I wouldn’t have believed them. For you see, I’ve never really considered myself a gossip or complainer; sarcastic maybe, but not a complainer. But once I focused my attention on my behavior, I realized that an incident of complaint would “rear its ugly head” just often enough to prevent me from successfully completing the program.
So, armed with spiritual practices that I have collected along my journey, I set out to eradicate complaining completely from my life. Three times each day I gave thanks for a Complaint Free experience, and I envisioned how that experience would manifest itself. I also used positive affirmations and quotes to inspire me throughout the day. My objective was to transfer the undesirable traits that had become embedded into my unconsciousness to my consciousness, where I could begin the work to remove them. I believe this is an integral part of the process. Until I became aware that I possessed and exhibited these traits, I could not begin to eradicate them. Slowly, but surely, I was able to release these incidents of complaint and gossip with greater ease.
This exercise in becoming Complaint Free has strengthened my optimistic outlook on life. I am more aware how negative thinking hinders my ability to be at peace with myself and others. I have witnessed an improvement in my relationships with my partner, family, colleagues, and students. I am more patient and experience less urgency in all my affairs.
This experience is, for me, best summed up in this quote from George Bernard Shaw, “Life is no brief candle to me; it is a sort of splendid torch, which I’ve got a hold of for the moment and I want to make it burns as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations.” Becoming a Complaint Free person ourselves raises the bar and sets a new standard for future generations.’
Like the participants of the 21-day challenge of a “Complaint Free World,” let us consider the ways we can find joys that bring a fullness of God in our everyday lives when we give up our complaints and grumblings. Let us remember that in all we do, we are being rooted and grounded in a love that is beyond our imagination, and isn’t this the kind of love we want to pass on to another generation?