Grumble, grumble, grumble......

Grumble: To murmur with discontent; to utter a low voice by way of complaint.

I started my day grumbling.  After 3 hours and 23 minutes (with many restless minutes included - according to my Fitbit app), I laid awake in my bed from 1:43 until I finally gave up, got up and got coffee at 5am. I don't feel particularly bad, just grumbling because I couldn't sleep.

Then I grumbled because the windows were open after a very warm day yesterday, but now the wind is blowing and temp outside is 46 = cold house.  

As usual I started my day with Bible reading and when I went to Nehemiah, imagine my surprise at the next passage....... grumbling! Actually they were doing more than grumbling - let's look:

Nehemiah 5:1-7 About this time some of the men and their wives raised a cry of protest against their fellow Jews. They were saying, "We have such large families. We need more food to survive."  Others said, "We have mortgaged our fields, vineyards, and homes to get food during the famine." And others said, "We have had to borrow money on our fields and vineyards to pay our taxes. We belong to the same family as those who are wealthy, and our children are just like theirs. Yet we must sell our children into slavery just to get enough money to live. We have already sold some of our daughters, and we are helpless to do anything about it, for our fields and vineyards are already mortgaged to others."  When I heard their complaints I was very angry. After thinking it over, I spoke out against these nobles and officials. I told them, "You are hurting your own relatives by charging interest when they borrow money!" Then I called a public meeting to solve the problem.

If you read on in the passage you will see that not only were they facing the difficult task of rebuilding that wall but they were fighting against themselves in the process. Nehemiah was bold, once again, and charged those in power to look at what they were doing to their own people.  Accountability.  Let's look at one more small passage as they  (the officials) responded:

Nehemiah 5:12-13 They replied, "We will give back everything and demand nothing more from the people. We will do as you say." Then I called the priests and made the nobles and officials swear to do what they had promised. I shook out the folds of my robe and said, "If you fail to keep your promise, may God shake you like this from your homes and from your property!" The whole assembly responded, "Amen," and they praised the Lord. And the people did as they had promised.

I sat here for a few minutes and thought about grumbling.  The wall builders had every reason to be upset, they were being taken advantage of by those in power. Once again I love Nehemiah's reaction. He listened, he gathered information and he took action. He led by example and he charged those around him to remember the goodness of God.

I need to read big stories like this to remind me that I grumble about really unimportant things. So I didn't sleep as well as I would have liked - I have a very comfortable bed, I don't have to worry about where I will live or eat.  I grumble about the weather (often!) - even though there is nothing I can do about it.  I grumble when things don't go my way, when maybe things need to go a different way because God has a better plan!

Today I chose to turn that grumbling around with a very little thing.  Instead of grumbling about the windows being left open and the house being cold I closed the windows and built a fire!  There won't be many more days, if any, this season when I can enjoy my morning coffee by a nice fire.  I choose gratitude about the very thing I started my day grumbling over.

I may have the tendency to grumble today, functioning on so little sleep.  I'm making the promise right here to 'think before I grumble' today.  I charge you to do the same. Whether you come up against small irritations or big oppressive issues, pause to consider your reaction.  Look for gratitude in each situation, even if you have to dig for it. Let's make it a grumble-free day!

PS This change in weather actually makes me HAPPY!  I do not like heat, so any cooler/cold days we get make me smile.