Grumblers and Growlers
By F. M. W.
What a blessed thing it would be if the world could be rid of this class of people! Not that they should be put out of it, but that they should gain such a viewpoint that there would be wrought in their lives a change of spirit. We cannot charge them with dishonesty. In fact, all the grumblers we have ever met believed that they had abundant7occasion for their complaint. Something once had gone wrong; the times were hard and so that they could not make a prosperous living; the affairs of the conference were badly managed; the members of the church were cold and unsympathetic; some of the church officers were anything but patterns of meekness; the neighborhood was unfriendly; their friends cherished a spirit of criticism; their gifts and abilities were not appreciated, or others were afforded superior advantages and opportunities. These and a legion of other reasons, led these persons to feel that the world was awry; that the whole town, or church, or neighborhood was wrong; and so this class of people go about sowing the seed of discontent and of faultfinding. It is pitiful to possess minds of this character which sow the baneful seeds of jealousy, evil surmising, and discontent. Perhaps some of these persons had a hard time. They may have been treated unkindly and dealt with unjustly, but this ill treatment on the part of others furnishes no occasion for them to manifest in their lives the same evil spirit with which they charge others. Faith shines the brightest in the darkness. The real test of meekness is in enduring trials and afflictions. It is for every disciple to realize that he sustains a personal relationship to God, and that that relationship should not be affected and need not be affected by the relationship of any other individual to his Maker, and though all his fellows turn against him, he still may maintain his integrity. God calls us to manhood, to womanhood. We are not to be children, swayed by every breeze, influenced by every word; laughing when others smile upon us, crying when they frown. We shall see disloyalty to the end of the world; we shall see coldness in others; but we need not succumb to this. The warmth of Christ's love in our hearts will enable us to dissipate much of the coldness around us. We are not to become the children of circumstances, but under God we are to convert circumstances into stepping-stones to success. We are not to yield weakly to the difficulties we meet, but with Christian faith and hope and courage we are to breast the current, and trust God to cause every adverse influence to work for our good. The church of God today needs generous-souled men and women. It needs men and women with kindly hearts who will not continually stand upon the defensive, jealous of personal rights, but who are able by God's grace to pass by slights and fancied grievances, and maintain in the face of the most unfriendly conditions the spirit of the Master. The grumblers and growlers need to change their viewpoint; they need to become converted; they need to experience the peace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and then they can quietly rest in him and let the storm pass by. Let us be lifters, not leaners; boosters, not knockers. Let us not growl and grumble and complain. Let us rejoice in God. Let us cherish faith in our fellows in spite of their mistakes. Let us be generous enough and big enough and broad enough to live above the mean things of life. Doing this, life in spite of its trials and vicissitudes will be one grand, sweet song in Christ Jesus. F. M. W.