Do all things without grumbling or disputing; so that you may prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may have cause to glory because I did not run in vain nor toil in vain.
[Philippians 2:14-16]
...forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus...
[3:13b-14]
Yesterday I was finding a lot of reasons to "grumble." The Shasta County library, in typical fashion*, was missing six whole sections of the Dewey decimal system; thus, I couldn't check out a book I wanted to read on the Darfur conflict of 2003... Simply because the ENTIRE section on Africa was missing. My manager scheduled me to work the one evening I said I wouldn't because of my commitment to our jr. high youth group. And the pants I ordered online for work finally came in the mail (oh the joys of having a 36" inseam), only to be too small.
These are all stupid things. Little things. Insignificant things that won't matter a year from now. Or even a week from now. I asked the Lord to put things into perspective, because no matter how many times I told myself these things didn't matter, I wasn't truly believing it. And once again, I was brought back to Philippians.
"Do all things without grumbling or disputing..."
Crap.
"...so that you may prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent.... as lights in the world..."
What am I doing, getting worked up over a work schedule or a pair of pants or a missing book? I am called to dwell on things so much greater than that.
It's a good thing, too.
*Shasta County library and I have been fighting for a good five years or so now. I will write about this more extensively in the future. As for now, it's just too painful to think about.
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