#98 Whiney the Pooh (2 Aug 06)

'Oh that men would praise the Lord for His goodness. And for His wonderful works to the children of men!'
Psalm 107:15

Whine is an intransitive verb(not too sure what that means), but anyway, to whine is to utter a high-pitched plaintive or distressed cry.
Winnie the Pooh, is that fluffy but good natured bear that my kids in their adolescent days grew up with, and whom I grew to love. Don't mind having another kid just to relive those nice 'cartoon' days.

Whiners we all are, but Whiney??
Whiney is just a product of my frivilous concoction but Cicada is a very real insect. It is any medium to large insects of the order Homoptera, with two pairs of membranous wings, prominent compound eyes, and 3 simple eyes and a very loud incessant noise polluter of the highest order.

'What shall I render unto the Lord. For all His benefits towards me?'
Psalm 116:12

It is often difficult to be thankful to the Lord when things don't come our way. But is it really that easy to remember the source of our grace and blessings, when things are running nicely??

'Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you'
Ephesians 4:32

The world has designated one day(November 13th) to be 'Kindness day" when everyone is reminded to express kindness and suppress their natural selfish instinct. But can that monster in us be truly bottled up even for one day??

'..But to do good and to communicate forget not; for with such sacrifices God is well pleased'
Hebrews 13:16

I used (and not the present tense use, because I am not too sure where he is now. We lost touch) to have a friend who doubled up as an insurance salesman while studying in the States. Most of us brushes our teeth at the beginning of the day, some cleanse their inner soul by spending time with the Lord, he did it differently. To ensure that he started on a high octane level at least in self esteem and probably self deceit as well, the full length mirror is where he first pay obeisance to when he comes out of dreamland. With 3 war cries that goes like this " hey, good looking, the world(and not just 'desperate housewives') is just waiting for you" hollered in increasing decibel, that is how he gear himself up for another day of likely rejection and disappointments.
By the time I made his acquaintance, he had changed profession to the dull and dour banking career, and had given up the highly hyped life.

'...and went unto their tents joyful and glad of heart for all the goodness that the Lord had done for ......Israel His people'
1 Kings 8:66

A thankful heart is a heart that is more likely to be aligned to look at the world and its issues from the loving perspective of God.
In letting God lead, we learn to judge things less from our own misguided and selfish understanding and allow God's grace and love to permeate our very soul.
Yet, unlike behaviorial science or whatever that transcends from the realms of human understanding including those self appointed gurus of self help and motivation or whatever is the buzz at the moment, here, in letting go, we are allowing Our Sovereign God to work through us.

As we become more Christlike in our eptitude and attitude, we will become more like God and less of us.
That is less wine(for sorrows), less whine(for more sorrows) and more of Thine(our Lord)

God is divine.

Why not, when the next time when the you are speared or seared by the arrows of aggrievement or aggravation, be it genuine or otherwise, hard as it might be, do try to take a step back into the presence of the Lord, do ask Him to help you rein in your innate desire to express indignation or whatever the senses demand, and instead, ask the Lord, 'what is Your will."

In submitting to the Lord, only can we resist the devilish desires in us to want to judge, to want to pout, to want our wants.

Have a nice daily life.

God Blesses

Eng Hieang