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From Whine to Wine
by Annie Glasel We Christian whiners have a special gift - we can go on and on about the woes of our lives without any help of narcotics, alcohol or other substances that can make whining an entertaining past time. Truth be told, most of us Christian who whine are the ones who really don't have anything to whine about. (All we have to do is type in www.voiceofthemartyrs.com. Or better yet, we can simply open up the Bible.) And truth really be told, we Christians are suppose to bring all our woe as supplications with praise and thanksgiving to Jesus. No where do I find the fine print for "whining" in between thanksgiving, supplicating and praising. I am a recovering whiner. So this article is really not for you (in case you are a whiner) but for me. (If there were a Christian Whiners Anonymous group, this would me getting up saying - hi, my name is Annie and I am a whiner.) I loved to whine - because it made my life sound much more interesting, dramatic, tragic and funny. I whined about my husband, my children, the house being just not perfect enough, the boss who is just crazy enough, the co-worker who is all too human...the mother who treats me like I'm still what-ever-age I should not be treated as, the mother-in-law who comments on my child-rearing, the sisters from church who gossip too much, the sermon from last week and that food so-and-so brought to the Sunday potluck. The source of my whine never ran dry. (And I did not even include my never-ending to-do list that really should constitute a six figure job...) Let's face it, whining is a sure fire way to keep "me" in the center of my own attention and the attention of all those who casually ask me -- "how are you today?" (Funny, I noticed recently that fewer and fewer people actually ask me that question). The only problem with whining is this - my troubles remain. In fact, my woes seem more depressing, more real and more permanent. In my BC days (that's Before Christ days), my whining sessions were accompanied by liberal amounts of wine. If my companions were lucky, my whine ended when my wine ended - mainly because I could no longer slur any more intelligible remarks. Unfortunately nowadays - there is no wine to stop me. Or is there? On more than one occasion, the Bible compares being filled with the Holy Spirit as being "drunk with new wine." And on the occasions where I have been filled with the Spirit, whining is stopped dead in its tracks. In fact, repentance quickly replaces whining, followed by thanksgiving and praising. The side effect of being drunk on the Holy Spirit new wine is this -- my troubles actually go away. Better yet, the Holy Spirit wine fills me up with peace and joy that is beyond my understanding and certainly not warranted by my circumstances. And all the euphoric feelings come before the problems are resolved. So I guess what I am saying is this : before you whine, drink some new wine. I've written to ease my pain; I've written to hear my voice; I've written for vanity; I've written for sanity; I've written for fun; I've written for laughs; I've written for me; I've written for money. But until I write for God, this talent is for naught. Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com |