Suffer With Dignity | Roscoe Lilly

One thing I’ve noticed on FB is how often people complain. (And I would like to take a minute and complain about that.) People who complain on FB complain in life too. Your FB status can be a reflection of the status of your heart.

It’s easy to slip into a mode of complaining. It’s not hard to just concentrate on the negative like: How you do all the work and get none of the credit, how it is so stinking cold, gas prices, or poor customer service. I’ve even been wanting to complain about something on FB that has been driving me crazy…pot holes…I’ve even thought of a clever status update like: Colorado has gone to pot and New York has gone to pot holes. (You know that’s good!)

It is easy for me to be negative. How about you? Do you complain a lot? What would your friends say? If they made a decision to stop associating with negative people would they have to unfriend you? Maybe you feel like you don’t have any friends…could the reason be because you are always complaining and they can only take so much negativity?

Now I’m not naive there is legitimate negative stuff. So, what are you supposed to do about that? Are you supposed to pretend and paste a smile on?

No…here is the principle:

Rule #3: Thou shalt suffer with dignity

Several times I’ve found myself wronged and I’ve not only wanted to create a FB post…I’ve wanted to tell the whole world what really happened…what was really said…but this rule keeps me grounded: “Suffer with Dignity.” I’m not saying that it didn’t hurt or wasn’t an injustice, but that I’m going to let God sort it out. Sometimes I’m going to have to take a few things on the chin. It’s hard and I hate it and I’m sure you do too.

Philippians 2:14-15 Do everything without complaining or arguing, (WHY?) so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe.

Paul (who knew a thing or two about suffering – 2 Cor. 11:23-27) was making the point that Christians should react differently to the circumstances of life. A positive attitude, despite negative circumstances, is a great witness to the value of our faith. In fact, Paul wrote the most positive book in the New Testament (Philippians) while he was in a Roman jail. He chose to suffer with dignity.

I once read a study about Olympic Medal winners which said that Bronze medalists were substantially happier than silver medalists.

Such a finding seems odd since the silver medalist performed better than the bronze. The researcher noted that the difference came from which point of view they focused on. The silver medalist could only focus on how close he came to winning gold whereas the bronze medalist was oriented to the fact that they almost didn’t win a medal at all. The bottom line was that feelings are not circumstantial, but perceptual. If it was just circumstantial the silver medalist would always be happier than the bronze medalist.

What have you been complaining about that you could look at from a different perspective?

* Gas Prices – If you can afford $4 a gallon gasoline you’re in the top 3% of the world. Half of the world lives on $2 a day.

* Kids – You have them. I can’t tell you the couples I know who desperately want children.

* Job – There are over 1 billion unemployed people in the world. If you can’t find a better job because of the economy, your education, where you live, or family situation it means you have the best job right now for you. What if you sent a thank you note to your boss for the opportunity to provide for your family? Be thankful or quit.

It’s easy to focus on what you don’t have, instead of what God has given us. Most of the stuff we complain about the rest of the world has no frame of reference (retirement accounts, home values, etc.). The fact that you are even reading this post means that you have been significantly blessed.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.

You read that on a bad day and you feel like punching St. Paul in the throat. You don’t have to be thankful FOR your circumstances, just IN them.

In all honesty, I’m not a fan of this post. I’m not a fan because I know one day I’ll read this and want to do the exact opposite of everything I just wrote. I’m a work in progress and I’m thankful for grace. I’m sure you are too!

So here is a test for us:

-When someone asks, “How you’re doing?”, do you complain?

-Do you talk more about suffering or God’s blessings?

-Are you complaining on FB when no one even asked?

If you are going through a rough time ask for God’s grace to suffer with dignity to bring honor to Him and your faith.

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