Thoughts

Written a couple weeks ago...

I sit here on my bed this morning—propped up by pillows, drinking coffee, eating a bagel and some fruit which I only had to go as far as my refrigerator for. I have adjusted the temperature to be just how I want it; my phone is by my side; my slippers are on the floor; my computer in my lap as I work on some homework; I have more clothes if I need them; I have food in my cupboards to last for weeks. Life is, in reality, so easy.

I think, on the other had, of poor tribal people all over the world, of people at poverty level in third-world countries, of the homeless, the abused, the abandoned, the starving, the sick. Their lives are not as easy as mine is this morning. Some of them don’t have food in a refrigerator, much less food in the house. Some are suffering from extreme temperatures and are struggling to overcome the elements. Some don’t know a reason to live; some face persecution at the hands of enemies; some are sick with no chance for medical treatment; many live with no hope.

I know that no matter what lot in life we have, there is never a reason to complain. But for those of us who live so well in life, it seems ludicrous that we still whine about things that don’t please us. And for those of us who both live well materially and live with Christ as our hope … it is stunning that words of complaint still fly from our lips on a regular basis.

I don’t know that life will always be this comfortable and easy for me. I suspect it will not be. I think in some strange measure that I hope it will not be. But whether in times of plenty or in times of need, for those who live and die claiming Christ as their eternal hope, there is little to complain about.