Reasons To Rejoice

Illus: It reminds me of the fellow who went to get his driver's license renewed. There were many others there doing the same thing. The line inched along for almost an hour, until the man finally got his license. He inspected his photo and complained to the clerk who took his picture, "I was standing in line so long, I ended up looking like I am mad in this picture."

The clerk looked at his picture closely. "It's okay," he reassured the man. "That's how you're going to look when the cops pull you over and give you a ticket for speeding."

It does not matter where you go:

• You can hear people complaining about their jobs

• You can hear people complaining about their marriage

• You can hear people complaining about their taxes

• You can hear people complaining about the schools their children attend

• You can hear people complaining about the traffic

• You can hear people complaining about the trains

• You can hear people complaining about the way their food is cooked

• You can hear people complaining about people’s workmanship

So why should we be shocked to see these same people come to church and complain about the church?

You can have people who attend the same church, and you will find some:

• Are so excited about their church they are constantly inviting all their family members and friends to attend with them

• That the only time they talk to their family and friends about the church is to complain

Illus: It reminds me of a man that joined a monastery, and one of the rules of the group was that you were only allowed to speak two words every ten years.

• At the end of ten years he said, "Bad food!"

• Ten more years went by and he said, "Hard bed!"

• Finally, on his 30th anniversary with the brothers, he thundered, "I quit!"

The priest in charge responded, "Well, you might as well quit, for the last thirty years all you have done is complained."

This is true of so many people. There is so much good they could talk about, but they choose to complain. Complaining not only makes the life of the complainer miserable, it also makes the life of those who have to listen to them miserable.

Illus: Mary Bachelor was that kind of chronic complainer. She was a minister's daughter, but she also was a housekeeper and helper to her brother, who also was a minister.

Day after day she unloaded her troubles on him in a complaining manner. One evening as they were talking together, she finally realized she was making her life miserable and his also. She needed to do something about it!

She said to herself, “I'm like those trees to my brother, I'm always casting shadows. Why don't I bury my sorrows by leaving them with Jesus?”

She went to her room and found relief in tears, after which she wrote these lines:

"Go bury your sorrow, the world has its share; go bury it deeply, go hide it with care; go think of it calmly, when curtained by night; go tell it to Jesus, and all will be right."

Later, when she had become a much happier Christian, she showed the verses to her brother, who had them printed in a local newspaper.

When well-known songwriter Phillip P. Bliss saw them, and he set them to music.

We have more reasons to REJOICE than we do to COMPLAIN. But there are those who are always looking for people that will listen to them complain.

When they see someone coming in their direction, what they see are two ears that they can pour their complaints into. Complaining ruins our testimony and gets us in trouble.

Illus: In the old days, according to Aesop’s fables, men were allowed to have many wives.

A middle-aged man had one wife that was old and one that was young; each loved him very much, and desired to see him like herself. Now the Man's hair was turning gray.

• The young Wife did not like the problem of the gray hair, as it made him look too old to be her husband, and she complained about his gray hair. So EVERY NIGHT she would comb his hair and pick out the white ones.

• The older wife saw her husband growing gray with great pleasure, because she was often mistaken for his mother. So she often complained to him about the black hairs on his head. So EVERY MORNING she would comb his hair and pluck out as many of the black ones as she could.

The consequence was that the Man soon found himself entirely bald.

When we YIELD to all kinds of complaining, it will destroy our testimony and bring misery to ourselves and to others. How much better it is to remain true to the Lord Jesus Christ and live a life of rejoicing!