Complaining Cancels the Promises

As I've been taking a historical/biblical  journey through those who have had successful families, businesses and lives in general there is one thing that these individuals did not do, complain. If we look at the children of Israel as they left Egypt headed to "The Promise Land", they argued, bickered, fought and complained. Their unruly outward displays of dissatisfaction prevailed over the vision to reach the land they were promised. The revisited old habits they had acquired during their period of captivity that prevented them from walking into the promises of God. If we exegete from this scriptural lesson complaining cancels the promises then it is easy to understand why individually we may not be where we should be. Clinging to old habits that do not work to promote success (notice I said habits that do not work), will not get us any closer to whatever vision you are pregnant with.

While George and I have decided on what three items we will focus on the first quarter of 2010, we both have come to the conclusion that our perspective of things around us must stay positive. We cannot murmur, complain, be disgruntled in the process of getting to where we are striving to get to. While it is great to have a husband/partner that is focused on the same items, not having someone can present a challenge of another kind. Not because you are alone in your pursuit, but because there will always be haters who will attempt to prevent you from reaching your goals. Reading further into Numbers chapters 13 &14, you will find that at one point Moses sent twelve spies to search out the land and find out if going into the land was possible. Though I've read this passage several times, something that stood out this last time was the spies dwelled in the land of "milk & honey" and returned after 40 days. They saw the evidence of the land being fruitful yet they returned and gave a bad report because there were a few obstacles to overcome. How many times have we encountered a hater who didn't see the vision like we saw it, and they said it couldn't be done? People who when presented with the same opportunity allowed the vision to die because it would have required them to shake the dust from their feet and move out of their comfort zone.

Sure it sounds crazy! Most great ideas are. Without sounding crazy we would have never made as many advances as we've done in medicine, science and technology. Out of 12 spies sent to spy out the land, only 2 returned and said it is doable, let's go in and possess the land. We've been getting water from rocks, and food from the sky in the wilderness, it is all possible! While you and I may not have experienced a miracle such as getting water from a rock, you can look back in your life in certain situations and it's comparable. There are certain challenges that I escaped from without real damage and I know that was my water from a rock. If you have gotten through something, you can get to something. If you've survived the desert season in your life then you can continue a little further on your journey to get to the oasis season.

Certainly we all lose heart. I'll admit, I've recently had feelings of inadequacy which has caused me to stop moving forward altogether. I've lost countless nights of sleep worrying about things that didn't deserve my worry. I've gone in circles working on tasks that I've allowed my haters or distractors to throw at me that prevent me from reaching my goals. I've learned to disconnect from people that are simply sent to tear me down. I spend less time talking to people who only have negative reports. I stay away from people who are doing great things only for the satisfaction of themselves, because when they cease to be satisfied (which is quite often) they spill their poison into the lives of those around them. People who never find satisfaction will have a different request of you every week. They will often confuse pursuing greatness with complaints about where they currently reside and want to skip steps in the process to expedite the expected outcome. The process of making you, helps you stay on top when you get there, never underestimate its importance. So today I refuse to complain! I don't want to miss any steps of the process and not know how to handle success (however you define it) when I get there. The process is rough, but lets learn the lessons the first time so that we don't have to repeat them.... or so we don't have to wander around in the wilderness for 40 years until we "get it."