Who would you rather sound like?

I caught myself grumbling about my hair today. And an hour later, I was grumbling about forgetting one of my shopping bags at Walmart (they have those turnstiles that make it easy to overlook a bag if you're not careful).

A lot of harmless grumbling goes on; it's the soundtrack of our lives.

You hear it in the supermarket line and on the radio. And if you listen closely you may hear it coming out of your own mouth. It is thought to be harmless, and I suppose it won't keep you out of heaven, but it will stunt your growth (Philippians 2:14-15) and lessen your reward (1 Corinthians 3:13-16).

But today I had a sudden epiphany. I heard myself. I noticed how different my speech sounded from the way Daniel talked:

"… there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries" (Daniel 2:28).

Or his friends:

"… our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace …" (Daniel 3:17).

Or David:

"… who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?" (1 Samuel 17:26)

Or Paul:

"… it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed …" (Philippians 1:20).

Or the Syro-Phoenician woman:

"Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master's table …" (Matthew 15:27).

Instead I sounded like Ruth's mother-in-law Naomi:

"… I am too old to have a husband. If I should say I have hope. … Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me …" (Ruth 1:12, 20).

What a difference in tone. Never mind the content, just listen to the contrast of optimism versus pessimism toward God. We like to think that we are like David, Daniel, Paul, and the Syro-Phoenician woman, but are we? You and I have a choice to make every time we open our mouths, and it is radical. We can go around sounding like Daniel's friends or we can go around sounding like Naomi did here. I'm sure God loved Naomi, too, but who wants to be known for all history for those faithless words?

We are building our record now. We will be judged for every careless word we utter (Matthew 12:36). For some of us, since mild grumbling is like breathing, it may feel funny at first to start talking like a Daniel rather than a Naomi. But you've got to start sometime, so why not today, while it is today (Hebrews 3:13)? Paul said to imitate him and people who are like him (1 Corinthians 11:1).

Ready. Set. Go: Let's talk unquenchable optimism in Christ.