Tammy On Tuesday ~ An Attitude Adjustment

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A constant dripping on a rainy day and a cranky woman are much alike! You can no more stop her complaints than you can stop the wind or hold onto anything with oil-slick hands. Proverbs 27:15-16

(Monday) I woke up this morning feeling “blah”.  I’ve had a lot on my mind and a lot going on in my life: from an unidentified physical ailment, to a long to-do list, to unanswered questions, to necessary plans not yet organized…I just felt overwhelmed and grumpy.  What’s worse, I saw no way to dig out of this morning misery and the day had only just begun!

I came downstairs and fought back the urge to snap at the kids and at Mark.  At times, the irritation won over and words would slip out.  It was clear to everyone – mom was not having a good morning.  As I poured my first cup of coffee, I began to pray.  I prayed for God to help me with ALL that seemed to loom over me.  Feeling pressed in on every side, I expressed my complaint to Him.  I asked Him how I was supposed to overcome the angst inside of me and redeem the day.

Coffee in hand, I took my usual place on the couch for my morning quiet time and halfheartedly read through some scriptures.  I wrote my prayer in my journal where I tried to sort out all I was feeling before The Lord.  Still wrestling my flesh, I picked up a book I’ve been reading that was recently recommended to me by a new friend.  It’s called, “The Holy Wild” by Mark Buchanan.  I opened it to the earmarked page and began.

That’s when God spoke.

His words (through this book) humbled me.

The author, Mark Buchanan, tells of a story while on a mission trip to Uganda, Africa.  He said roughly a 100 people in this impoverished village were gathering under a tin lean-to for a worship service.  Because of some mishaps and frustrations with another team member, He had been feeling irritated and annoyed.  There were a handful of things that had gone wrong on the trip and he described himself as feeling “deprived and misunderstood.”  He knew he was not in any frame of mind to worship and didn’t see a way out of his mood.  (Hmm. Sounded familiar.)

The worship service began with music played on humble instruments.  Everyone lifted their voices and moved about in dances of praise.  The pastor asked if someone would come and give testimony of God’s goodness.  That’s when he saw her.  A tall and lanky lady from the back of the crowd came forward to testify.  She told the congregation that she had been praying for 3 months for God to send her a pair of shoes.  Triumphantly, the woman raised her leg to show everyone the shoe on her foot.

She joyfully declared, “God gave me shoes!”

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Immediately, God gripped Buchanan’s heart as he realized he had never, in his whole lifetime, needed to pray for a pair of shoes.  What’s more, he could never recall giving thanks for all the shoes he’d had.  He shared in his book his immediate response, “I was devastated. I sat there broken and grieving.  In an instant, God snapped me out of my self-pity and plunged me into repentance.”

“In an instant.” 

That’s about how fast God worked in my heart too.  I put down the book, awestruck with just how blessed I am and how easily I’d forgotten.  How good God is!  How faithful!  How loving and kind!  With my own heart of repentance I began to thank God for the ways He has blessed me.  And my burden grew wings and flew away.

Plain and simple…Joy comes from a thankful heart.  If you’re not joyful…perhaps you’ve not been grateful.  In fact, it’s imperative to give thanks.  True living depends on it.

I would like to leave you with food for thought from Buchanan’s book…
“Thanklessness becomes its own prison.  Persisted in, it becomes its own hell…Thanklessness is the place God DOESN’T dwell, the place that, if we inhabit it too often, He turns us over to.  ‘See to it that no one misses the grace of God’.”

Feeling grumpy?  Try thankfulness, inviting God to come and dwell…out of a thankful heart, you will find your joy.