There used to be a skit on Saturday Night Live about a couple named Doug and Wendy Whiner. The skit was based around this couple who spoke in a whiny voice all of the time. I can remember traveling in Panama as a teenager and while doing a little sightseeing, my friend and I began saying things in our Doug and Wendy Whiner voices. Looking back, we cracked ourselves up but were probably annoying everyone else.
So, now it is time for me to divulge a truth……I’m often like Doug and Wendy. I whine. I suppose the reality of it is that I’m a pretty thankful person. I realize that I have been blessed with a great husband, great kids (even if they do roll their eyes at me at times) and a great family. I love my job and my co-workers. I have some precious friends. My kids never have to go without needs. (I am stressing needs… wants are a totally different thing.) I’m thankful to God for all of these things and so much more. BUT…. I’m also still a whiner. Not so much of one out loud and to people (okay, maybe a few get to hear me) but in the quietness of my life, wherever that may be, I whine to God about what I don’t have or what I don’t want.
Last spring, I took a day long personal retreat. It wasn’t much of anything other than a hike all by myself to a rock that overlooks a river. I took my walking stick, a backpack, some music on my phone and my Bible. The intention of the retreat was to spend my time with God….. whining. I had been dealing with a perpetual thorn in my side… as much as I have done and as hard as I have tried, I couldn’t (still can’t) get that thing out of my side. So, my retreat time was going to be me and God…. I totally had planned on him showing up at that rock with me. I sat down, prayed some, opened my Bible, read some….. nothing. No God. I did those things again. Still, no God. For whatever reason, though I know I am always in his presence, he chose to be quiet. And my reaction… I was disappointed…. I wanted to complain about this thorn in my side… I wanted answers….. It was a great day for it to be removed! Still nothing but silence.
I basked on the rock for several hours, reading, waiting….. I was at the point of putting God in a box and of believing that He was also annoyed with my whining, so I finally gave up and decided to leave. Now being a girl that grew up on a farm, with a tad of hippie inside and lack of desire to be like others, I decided a hike without shoes would be great…. I put my shoes in my backpack and began hiking through mud, rocks and grass… It was wonderful. The smells of fresh mud and grass, the feel of walking on gravel and squishing through mud, the sounds of a running creek and singing birds… I was instantly taken back to my childhood.
I made it through the rough terrain and back to a concrete sidewalk and was watching a group of kids in the distance when I looked down and caught myself in mid-step. I almost stepped on the biggest thorn I’d ever seen in my life. It was huge… at least to me it was. It was probably three inches long and the thorns on the side were sticking a good two inches outward. It looked much like a cross. I thought in my mind that thorn would be great to show the kids at church because it was probably the size of the thorns placed on Jesus’ head. I looked around to find more but there were none. The only ones I saw were about 40 feet in the air, wrapped around a large tree. So, I picked it up and decided since God wasn’t meeting me that I would listen to some music.
I put in my ear buds and without looking, clicked on my music. A song began to play and as I sat down in my car, I heard the words in a whole new way…. 
The song was, Don’t Give Up by Shawn McDonald…. These are the words that I heard….
Sometimes it is hard to go on
It’s hard to see the reasons
For breathing, living, letting love guide the way
But you must hold on
Don’t give up
Don’t give up
Hold on for one more day
Sometimes we fall down
We get ourselves in trouble
But it’s OK
Cause we still have another chance to get it right
To get it right
I’ve come too far
I’ve seen so much
I’ve heard the call and felt the touch
I’ve tasted love that I cannot deny
Don’t give up
Don’t give up
Hold on for one more day
I remembered the words that had been spoken to me just days before, ” Maybe the thorn in your side is to keep you relying on God. If you didn’t have it would you depend on God as much as you have to with it? Maybe not” … I looked at the thorn… it was a souvenir…God waited until I was like a child and spoke to me in a way that was creative and miraculous….. I wept…
I’ve kept that thorn. It sits on my desk as a reminder of that day. I still don’t like the thorn in my side and it still bothers me a lot, but at least I have an understanding and that understanding came in such a loving and beautiful way.
Day 1: I’m thankful for a God that cannot be put in a box, desires a personal relationship with me (and you) and speaks in beautiful ways.
2 Corinthians 12:7-10 (NLT)
7 even though I have received such wonderful revelations from God. So to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud.
8 Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. 9 Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. 10 That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
From Jesus Calling by Sarah Young-
Grow strong in the Light of My Presence. Your weakness does not repel Me. On the contrary, it attracts My Power, which is always available to flow into a yielded heart. Do not condemn yourself for your constant need of help. Instead, come to Me with your gaping neediness; let the Light of My Love fill you.
A yielded heart does not whine or rebel when the going gets rough. It musters the courage to thank Me even during hard times. Yielding yourself to My will is ultimately an act of trust. In quietness and trust is your strength.
I don’t know what I was thinking… an hour to spare and I said, ” Why don’t we take this other trail? It seems silly to go home when we could keep walking for another hour. It can’t possibly take that long.” I don’t know if the map was totally exaggerated or if I was oxygen deprived and not thinking straight, but for me to suggest we hike further????? Totally not me. First of all, let me set the record straight, I do like to hike… as long as the trail is relatively flat, the air is cool and I can wear my flip-flops. Also, I need to walk with slow walking people… my leg stride is so short that I have to run to keep up with others and believe me, I have a few friends who just about kill me when we are walking… at the mall. You know who you are..
Jesus said that if we see this uncaring, unjust judge answering the request, then just imagine what a loving Father would do. It would be really easy to look at that parable and take away from it that we have to beg and whine in order for God to answer our prayers the way we want them answered or we should ask God to be our genie in a lamp, but I don’t think that either is the point. I think the point may be to not give up before it is time to quit so you don’t miss out on the blessing that God has in store. Maybe persistence in prayer is not for us to feel good about the accomplishment or the gift, but maybe it helps us appreciate the power of God.
The Prodygal Life 